Leader Change
by JustAnotherGuy04
Summary: Growing tired of her partner's constant complaints, Ruby decides to switch places with Weiss, allowing her to become the team leader. Despite being happy with the opportunity at first, the heiress soon learns just how much work is required to be a team leader, and what responsibilities the position carries with it.
1. A Wish Granted

**Leader Change**

**Chapter 1: A Wish Granted**

Ruby Rose, the leader of team RWBY, was someone who had broken through all expectations people had for her. Not only had she done well in her training to become a Huntress, but she had done so well that she was recognized for her skills by Ozpin himself, who let the redheaded girl join Beacon Academy two years early. As if this hadn't been amazing enough, Ruby broke through even more expectations by not only becoming the leader of team RWBY, but by being a very good leader. The scythe-wielder was truly a person to be admired and respected.

However, there was a certain someone who didn't see things this way, and that was none other than Ruby's own partner, Weiss Schnee. No matter how well the redhead performed in tests or training exercises, the heiress would always find something to complain about. The girl born in nobility expected nothing but perfection, and nothing else would be good enough.

If it wasn't bad enough that Weiss felt the need to nitpick on every little mistake her partner did, whether it was a wrong answer or even not keeping her school uniform looking perfect, the heiress also had a bad habit of making things seem far worse than they really were. Even when the team members of RWBY were simply trying to have a good time somewhere in Vale, Weiss felt the need to point out things Ruby seemed to do wrong, saying that a leader needs to carry herself in a respectable manner, and that it would look bad for all Huntsmen and Huntresses for one to not act properly.

Their teammates, Blake and Yang, obviously didn't see things the same way their white-haired teammate did. In fact, they often felt the need to step in to defend their leader, thinking that Weiss often went too far. However, no matter how much they stood up for Ruby, the heiress wouldn't back down from her criticism of her partner. She was determined of making her opinion known, even if she was being unreasonable.

Little did the older girls of team RWBY know, especially Weiss, that their leader was slowly reaching her boiling point, and that she was about to blow up. It would only take a bit more before the redhead was going to unleash all of her pent up anger and frustration at her partner.

And that time was now.

Team RWBY was heading back to their dorm from their last class for the day, which had been combat practice under Glynda Goodwitch. During the class, their team had been put in a sparring match against team CRDL, which they won. The victory was mostly thanks to Ruby, as she directed her teammates with great skill, earning them almost a perfect victory. The only problem had come when Yang had gotten a bit too heated up, which led to her getting lured by Russel into fighting two opponents at the same time. Luckily, Ruby had been quick to act and had stepped in to assist her sister, thus resulting in Yang losing only a bit of her Aura. The four girls had performed so well that even Professor Goodwitch had praised them.

Unfortunately, an almost perfect victory wasn't good enough for Weiss, who made her opinion very clear once they got out of the class. It seemed like even with an almost perfect victory, the heiress felt the need to criticize her partner.

"Honestly, Ruby, you're way too careless!" Weiss complained. "Thanks to your decisions during battle, Yang could have gotten taken out! It was your fault that she ended up fighting both Russel and Cardin at the same time!"

"Hey, would you give her a break, princess?" Yang asked with a hint of anger in her voice, not liking the way her white-haired teammate was talking to her sister. "Not only did I get saved by her, we also won in the end. Besides, it was my fault that I got lured in by Russel's taunts, so I think it's unfair to blame Rubes."

"Even if we did win, we cannot ignore the risks we faced during our match!" the heiress argued. "Had this been an actual battle, things could have gotten far worse for us! It's the leader's duty to make sure her team stays safe during missions!"

"While I do understand your point, I also think you're being too unfair against Ruby," Blake said. "So far, she has been doing a great job at being a leader, far better than most others in this entire school. Not to mention, she is getting better with each day. While criticism can be useful, we should leave that to the teachers. Not to mention, you're being way too harsh."

"It's only through being harsh that Ruby will learn!" Weiss yelled.

While the three older girls were arguing with each other, they failed to notice how their team leader was reacting to all of this. Since Ruby's back was turned towards her teammates, they couldn't see the look of pure anger that was on the younger girl's face. Ruby's whole face was completely red from rage, she was gritting her teeth and her expression was one of fury. Just one little push and she would unleash all of her aggression in one go.

"Hey, Ruby, are you ignoring me!?" Weiss asked angrily, having not heard a word from her partner. "I'm trying to make you realize your mistakes, so you can-!"

"ENOUGH! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!" Ruby yelled as loudly as she could, shocking her teammates. The redhead turned to face her partner, looking absolutely livid. "I have had enough of all of your damn complaining, Weiss! I know I need to improve my skills and that I'm not perfect, but I don't need YOU breathing down my neck about EVERY SINGLE THING I DO! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW FRUSTRATING THAT IS!?"

The three older girls could only stare with wide eyes at their team leader. Never could they have imagined that Ruby was even remotely capable of such anger. In all honesty, it actually scared them. Weiss was especially starting to fear her partner, as she was the target of her rage.

"Every single day! Every. Single. Freaking! DAY! I have to listen to you complain about something I do! Why is it that you have to always find something to complain about!? Is that the only thing you enjoy doing!?" Ruby ranted with her anger not calming down even a bit. "I'm actually trying my best to not only become a good Huntress, but to fulfill my duties as a team leader and be a good friend to you all! And what do I get for my efforts!? Nothing but nagging and complaints every day! Why is that there is nothing I can do to make you satisfied!?"

"N-Now listen here, Ruby," Weiss said after managing to compose herself somewhat. "I do recognize your efforts, but your work still has a lot of need for improvement! I am just trying my best to point out your errors, so that-"

The young team leader didn't even let her partner finish speaking, as she grabbed her by the front of her shirt and pulled her closer. Now that she was staring Ruby straight in the eyes, Weiss was truly frightened by the anger she saw in the younger girl's silver orbs.

"I CAN TAKE HELPFUL CRITICISM, BUT CONSTANT NAGGING AND MICROMANAGING IS SOMETHING NO ONE IS WILLING TO TAKE!" Ruby yelled straight at Weiss' face. "It's not bad enough that you have to complain about every little thing I get wrong in school, but you even have to make comments on my personal life as well! Yesterday, you complained about the way I was drinking my hot chocolate! DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO GO THAT FAR!?"

"Rubes, calm down!" Yang called out to her sister in a panic, fearing what might happen if this went on. "I know Weiss can be a pain to deal with, but you shouldn't-"

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS, YANG!" the redhead yelled at her sister, scaring the older girl so badly that she actually hid behind Blake. "I am tired of the way Weiss keeps nitpicking literally everything I do! She doesn't even realize all the things I have to do and go through as a team leader!"

"W-Well, how could I know anything about being a team leader!?" Weiss yelled in a desperate panic as she tried to somehow save herself. "Since I wasn't made team leader, how could I know what it's like to be one!?"

Silence fell over team RWBY, as the three older girls waited nervously for Ruby's response. Weiss silently cursed herself for what she had just blurted out, as she was certain that it only managed to anger her partner further. However, the three older girls were surprised, when Ruby simply turned to look at the heiress with a completely neutral expression that didn't have any signs of her previous anger and rage left on it. It was almost like she had never gotten angry at all.

"Would you like to switch places with me then?" Ruby asked her partner calmly. "Since you don't know what it's like to be a leader, this could be a good experience for you."

"...Huh?" the three older girls all said in unison.

* * *

Moments later, the members of team RWBY were in Ozpin's office, talking about their latest issue. Ruby had explained the situation fully to the headmaster and asked if it would be possible for their team's leader to be changed for some time. The redhead even went so far as to explain that it would be a good learning experience for Weiss and that she herself was ready to permanently step down as leader, if the rest of their team felt like it was for the best.

Most of the people in the office were expecting Ozpin to deny such a request. After all, it was such a sudden change and had such big consequences that it would be crazy for them to go through with it.

However, all of those people were in for a surprise.

"That sounds not only reasonable, but also interesting," Ozpin said with a small smile. "Your request is granted. Starting from tomorrow, Weiss Schnee shall be the leader of team RWBY. I will inform the other professors about this change."

"WHAT!?" came the surprised scream from not only the WBY, but from Glynda Goodwitch as well, who had been in the office when team RWBY came there.

"Professor Ozpin, you can't be serious!" Glynda yelled at the headmaster in shock. "Changing the leader of a team like this can't be a good idea! Not only do we have to make all the necessary preparations at once, but there is also the problem of the other teams! What if this gives other students the idea that they can switch leaders suddenly!?"

"I am well aware of the problems, but I feel like this is a necessary experience for team RWBY," Ozpin said calmly. "For some time now, I have been receiving reports about Ms. Schnee seemingly questioning her leader's skills. Getting put on the leader's position for a change might give her a new perspective on not only her partner's position, but also on the position of a team leader as a whole. And as the teachers of this school, isn't it our duty to help our students grow in the best possible way?"

"Wait, is this really happening?" Weiss asked carefully, not able to fully believe what was happening. "Am I really going to be the leader of team RWBY from now on?"

"Indeed you are, Ms. Schnee," the headmaster answered with a smile. "You are finally going to get the position you wanted so badly when you first came here."

"Not only that, but I'll be willing to step down as leader permanently, if you prove to be better suited for the job than I am," Ruby added. "So, what do you say? Want to give it a shot?"

"Oh, absolutely!" the heiress replied happily. "I have always wanted to be the team leader, so there's no question if I want to do this!"

While Weiss was happy about the idea of getting the position of team leader, Yang and Blake were having their doubts about the whole thing. The idea of someone else taking the role of their leader felt like such an alien idea that they couldn't help but be bothered by it. The blonde was especially uncomfortable with the whole thing, since it felt like Weiss was stealing her little sister's position.

"Rubes, are you sure about this?" Yang asked the younger girl. "I think we can still back out of this, if you have any doubts."

"I'm more than willing to go through with this, Yang. In fact, I think it's for the best of our team," Ruby answered. "Not only has Weiss' constant complaining been putting a lot of strain between me and her, but I feel like she should learn what it's like to be in my position. Not to mention, if it turns out that Weiss truly is the better leader, it should be natural for her to take that position. I even kind of want her to, when I think about it."

"Don't you think that this is still a bit too extreme?" Blake asked. "While I do agree that Weiss should stop with her constant complaining, aren't you essentially just giving in to the demands of a spoiled child? I just fear what might happen from this."

"Don't worry. This will only be for a short while and I will personally do my best to make sure that nothing too bad happens," the redhead reassured the faunus girl. "Other than that, it's up to Weiss herself to make the right decisions."

Seeing as there seemed to be no possibility to change Ruby's mind, the two girls decided to let the whole thing be. They still couldn't help but feel that things wouldn't end well.

With everyone convinced to let the change happen, Ozpin began to explain Weiss some of the things she needed to look after as a leader. The white-haired girl listened happily to the headmaster's instructions, eager to start in her position as team leader. Meanwhile, Yang, Blake and Glynda were talking with each other about this new change. The blonde teacher tried her best to convince her two students that everything would be fine, although she herself couldn't help but have her doubts as well.

However, no one in the room managed to notice the smile on Ruby's face, which made her look like a scheming villain.

* * *

Later that night, team RWBY was starting to go to bed, hoping to get some rest before tomorrow's classes. Before the lights got switched off, Ruby had one more thing to say to her partner.

"Remember, Weiss, you're going to be the leader tomorrow," the redhead called out to the heiress. "That means you will have to fulfill all the duties and responsibilities I used to do. Don't take your new position lightly."

"Oh, trust me. I'll do my absolute best as the new leader," Weiss said with a cocky smile on her face. "Instead of worrying about how well I'm going to do, you should worry about your own position as team leader. I might just go and take it from you, since you personally made it possible."

"Well, tomorrow we will see just how good of a leader you truly are, Weiss," Ruby said with a small smirk. "And believe me when I say that I am excited to see it."

With their last words for the day said, the team went to sleep, wondering what tomorrow would bring to them. However, unknown to the three older girls of the team, Ruby had some sort of an idea and had a smile on her face while thinking about it.

* * *

**Author's notes: Hope you guys like the start of my new story. I got this idea after thinking about how often people write Weiss in such a way that she is somewhat demanding to get the position of team leader from Ruby. This got me thinking about a scenario, where Ruby actually lets her partner take the role of leader, only for Weiss to find out what it truly is like to be the leader.**

**This story won't be a long one, as I think it will be at best seven chapters long, if even that. Of course, I can never truly tell what kind of crazy ideas I get that make their way to my stories, so one can never truly tell. However, at the moment, I am not planning for this to be especially long. I doubt making this story a long one would even work for it. Also, there won't be any pairings in this story.**

**Anyways, tell me whether you want to see me continue this story or not. It always depends on your feedback, if I'm going to continue or not.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	2. Rough Morning

**Leader Change**

**Chapter 2: Rough Morning**

Weiss woke up next morning with a smile on her face, having rested peacefully last night. Her smile only got bigger once she remembered what had happened yesterday. Today would be her first day as the leader of team RWBY, allowing to finally show her skills properly. The heiress hummed happily as she skipped to the dorm's bathroom to take a quick shower, before she would get ready for the day's classes.

However, once she got out of the bathroom, Weiss noticed something was strange in their dorm. After thinking about it for a moment, she realized what it was. The room was unusually quiet. Normally, Ruby would be running around, waking up everybody with her whistle and going non-stop about the day that was ahead of them. But instead of the usual noise that was caused by the redhead, there was almost complete silence over the room that was only broken by the sound of Yang's snoring.

After noticing the lack of noise caused by her partner, the heiress decided to check the younger girl's bed to see if she was still asleep. Upon climbing up to the top bunk, Weiss found no redheaded girl sleeping there. The white-haired girl looked at the other pair of beds and saw that both Blake and Yang were still in the room, although still asleep.

"Honestly, where is that dolt?" Weiss mumbled in a frustrated tone. "Our classes are about to start and she decides to go and disappear! I swear, she has no idea on how to behave maturely!"

Despite her complaints, the absence of Ruby still bothered the heiress greatly, as this was unusual for the scythe-wielder. Since Weiss didn't have any ideas on how to find her partner, she decided to ask for advice from Yang. After all, who would know about Ruby's behavior better than her own sister?

Unfortunately, the fencer would have to face the challenge of waking up the snoring blonde, which was easier said than done. Not to mention, Weiss would also find out just how dangerous it could also be.

"Yang. Wake up, Yang!" the white-haired girl called out to her sleeping teammate, as she shook her a bit.

"Mmmm... Five more minutes," Yang mumbled sleepily and turned her back towards Weiss, not intending to get up anytime soon.

"Yang, I'm serious! I need you to-!" Weiss called out again to the blonde, but she did the terrible mistake of accidentally pulling Yang's hair a bit.

"HANDS OFF THE LOCKS!" the brawler yelled out upon feeling someone lay their hands on her precious hair, causing her to instinctively punch whoever dared to attempt harming it. Her fist hit Weiss right in the face, sending her falling to the floor. "...Weiss?"

"Ow... Who did you think I was!?" the fencer asked angrily while rubbing the spot that got hit. "Seriously, why did you have to hit me!?"

"Hey, you can only blame yourself for that," Yang said without even a hint of regret in her voice. "You should know by now that I don't like having my hair get damaged. Why would you harm it when I was asleep?"

"I wasn't going to harm your hair!" Weiss yelled. "I was only trying to wake you up!"

"Could somebody explain why there's so much noise?" Blake asked in a grumpy tone, having been woken up by her two teammates arguing. "I was trying to sleep, when you two decided to start making noise."

"You can blame Weiss for that. This is all her fault," Yang quickly said. "If she hadn't started threatening my hair, none of this would have happened."

"It wasn't my-!" Weiss began to angrily argue, but stopped herself. They wouldn't get anywhere by starting to bicker now. "Never mind. I wanted to ask you something, Yang. Do you have any idea where Ruby might be? I woke up not too long ago, but I can't find her anywhere."

This got the blonde's attention. If there was one thing she cared about more than her hair, it was her precious little sister.

"Rubes is not here?" Yang asked and looked around a bit, not seeing even a glimpse of the redhead anywhere. "This makes no sense. Even if she's the first one of us to get up, I would have never thought that she would just disappear like this."

"That's what I've been wondering about," Weiss said. "Normally, she would be running around the room at this hour. Where could she have possibly gone so early?"

While the blonde and the white-haired girl kept wondering about their missing teammate, Blake noticed something else. Her discovery made her eyes go wide and nervous sweat to start falling down her face.

"Ummm... I might have an idea where Ruby is," the cat faunus said nervously, getting the attention of her two teammates. "My guess is that she is currently in class."

"Why would she be in class?" Weiss asked. "We still have time before our lessons start."

"I don't think we do," Blake said and showed her discovery to her two teammates, who also went wide-eyed.

The raven-haired girl was showing them their alarm clock. However, the three girls had expected the time to be around 7 AM, when they would normally wake up. However, the clock showed that it was currently 9:45 AM, and their first lesson for the day started at 8 AM. They were almost two hours late from school.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Weiss screamed in horror. "How could this happen!? How could we have overslept so much!?"

"I think that's the least of our worries right now!" Yang yelled as she got down from her bed and began to put on her school uniform in a panicked hurry. "We already completely missed our first class and are now late for the second one! We better hurry it up or the teachers will have our heads!"

The three girls began to run around the room, doing their best to get their school clothes on and ready for whatever classes they still had left. As soon as they had all managed to dress up, they rushed out of their dorm and towards the class they were supposed to be attending.

"God, I can't believe this! It's so humiliating!" Weiss cursed as she and her two teammates were running through the hallways. "If my family were to find out about this, I would never live this down! Why didn't Ruby wake us up!?"

"Yeah! Usually she would be blowing that damn whistle of hers to get us up!" Yang said while running behind the heiress. "Why didn't she do it this time!?"

"This is not the time to think about that, you two!" Blake yelled. "Does either one of you remember which class we are supposed to be heading to!?"

"Of course! Our first class for today was Professor Peach's!" Weiss answered. "If we hurry, we might make it in time!"

"Hold on a second!" Yang suddenly yelled, bringing the whole trio to a stop. "The clock showed it was 9:45 AM, right!? That means we missed Professor Peach's class completely! We need to head towards our second class, which is Professor Port's!"

Weiss' eyes went wide as she realized her error. In her panic she had been rushing towards their first class for the day, but had forgotten that it had already passed. And to make matters worse, she had just now been running in the opposite direction from Port's class.

"Dammit! DAMMIT!" the white-haired girl screamed as she started to run in the right direction this time, with her two teammates behind her. "Could this day get any worse!?"

* * *

It took the WBY some time, but they managed to get to Port's class before it ended. Once they reached the classroom's door, Weiss opened it so loudly that the portly teacher actually stopped his lecture and turned to look at the newcomers, along with every student in the class. This was very unfortunate for the three girls, as they didn't exactly have their best appearances on. Not only were all three of them panting heavily from all the running, but their overall looks were messy. Both Blake and Yang didn't have the time to fix up their hair before leaving their dorm, so they looked liked they had just gotten out of bed. Not only that, but each of the WBY girls had somehow messed up with their uniforms. Yang's shirt wasn't properly buttoned up and her skirt was hanging very loosely on her hips. Blake was not only missing the ribbon that was supposed to be tied around her neck, but she had also somehow managed to put her jacket the wrong way around. And when it came to Weiss, she looked otherwise fine, except she wasn't wearing any socks. There was also something else she was missing, but she would find out about it later.

The way the three girls looked was quite hilarious, as several students began to snicker among themselves. This didn't go unnoticed by the WBY, who were turning red from embarrassment. However, Weiss' embarrassment was soon replaced by anger, as she spotted Ruby sitting behind one of the tables, while looking at her with a mischievous smirk on her face.

_'Why that little...!'_ the heiress thought to herself angrily while staring at her partner. _'How dare she just act like she did nothing wrong!? Once this humiliation is over, I swear I'll make her pay for this!'_

"Ah! Good to see that the rest of team RWBY's ladies have decided to finally join us!" Port said in his usual jovial tone, but one could detect a hint of anger there. "After this class is over, I expect your team to stay here for a moment. I wish to hear your explanation for being so late."

"Y-... Yes, Professor," Weiss managed to say while struggling with her embarrassment. She gave one last dirty look at Ruby, before taking a seat at one of the tables with Blake and Yang. Before she sat down, she noticed something strange. _'Why do I feel a strange chill?'_

* * *

It didn't take long for Port's class to be over, as the WBY had missed most of it. While the other students made their way out of the classroom, the members of team RWBY stayed behind and made their way to the teacher's desk. The remaining five people waited until everybody else had left, before Port began to speak to the four students.

"In all my years as a teacher here, I don't believe I have ever witnessed such shameful behavior!" Port began his lecture. "Not only did three of you miss over half of my class, but I heard that you missed Professor Peach's class entirely! Is this supposed to be the kind of behavior one should expect from respectable Huntresses!? I hope that at least one of you has some kind of an explanation for this and that it's a good one!"

"Professor Port, I can explain what happened!" Weiss quickly said. "This was all Ruby's fault! She woke up before us and left without waking up any of us as well! She deliberately let all three of us oversleep in order to put us in this situation!"

"Ms. Rose, is this true?" the teacher asked sternly, turning his attention to the youngest girl in the group. "If it is, I am afraid that it's a serious offense. Putting your own team in a bad situation is not something one would expect from a team leader."

"That is not true at all, Professor. In fact, I was just following MY duties, as I am no longer the leader of team RWBY," Ruby answered in complete calmness, like she had nothing to worry about. "Yesterday, a change was made in our team that put Weiss in the position of team leader, thus taking away all the duties and responsibilities away from me. She has always boasted about how perfect she would be as a leader, so I didn't see it necessary for me to simply wake her up, so that she could perform HER duties. I was certain that she would either be on time, like she should, or she would learn the importance of her duties the hard way."

"That is absolute-!" the heiress tried to argue, but was quickly cut off by Port.

"I would advise you from getting into anymore trouble, Ms. Schnee! I think you're in deep enough trouble as it is!" the portly professor said to his student, shutting her up. He then turned his attention back to Ruby. "I see what has truly happened here, Ms. Rose. I apologize for involving you in this matter, as you haven't done anything wrong. I had completely forgotten about the sudden change to your team's leadership."

"It is alright, Professor. I understand that the change was sudden, so it was inevitable that something like this would happen," the redhead said with a smile and even gave a respectful bow to her teacher. "Do you need me for anything else or may I take my leave?"

"You may leave. I only need to talk to your teammates," Port answered and gave a glare at Weiss, making her shiver a bit. "Especially your new team leader."

Having been given the permission to leave, Ruby excused herself and started to walk towards the classroom's door. Before she left, the former team leader gave one last look at her partner with a smug smile on her face, which Weiss saw, causing her anger to rise.

After Ruby had left, Port readied himself to give the three remaining girls the lecture of a lifetime. The WBY were sweating nervously, as they waited their teacher to unleash his anger at them.

"You have some nerve, Ms. Schnee!" the portly teacher said in an angry tone. "You finally get the position that you complained to ME about not getting on your first day in Beacon, yet this is how you start showing your skills as a leader!? And to make matters worse, you actually try to put the blame on your partner, who held no responsibility over you or your other teammates!"

"B-B-But it was her fault!" Weiss tried to desperately defend herself. "She got up before any of us and could have woken us up, so we wouldn't have gotten here late! How is it that she was allowed to just abandon her own teammates like that!?"

"Didn't Professor Ozpin tell you about what your duties as a leader are?" Port asked with a stern look on his face. "As the leader of your team, it is YOUR responsibility to look after the well-being of your teammates AND their overall performance! This includes making sure that they get to where they are needed on time!"

"But why!?" the heiress asked. "Why do I need to see to it that my teammates are on time for their classes!?"

"Good heavens, try thinking for yourself a bit!" the teacher said and shook his head from frustration. "If you are required to arrive on time for a mission, you simply cannot be late! As Huntsmen and Huntresses, the very lives of the people are depending on our actions! Do you really think that such a duty can allow for tardiness!? Every wasted second could endanger someone's life! And if you can't be on time for classes, how can anyone expect you to be on time for something far more important!?"

"I... I..." Weiss attempted to come up with an excuse, but couldn't. She knew that the teacher was right. Since their job was to protect humanity itself, it was unacceptable for them to be late for anything. "I understand, Professor. I am deeply sorry for my mistakes."

"Good! Perhaps you have learned something, despite missing most of my class!" Port said, somewhat satisfied that his lecture had gotten through to his student. "Now, even if you have learned your lesson, I am still going to have to give you all some detention for being late. However, since you are the leader of your team, Ms. Schnee, you are going to be having a bit of extra detention as well. This is for the sake of you understanding the weight of your duties and responsibilities."

Despite having recognized her mistakes, the white-haired girl was still blaming someone else for the whole mess. A certain redheaded partner of hers. She would be having a bit of a talk with that girl, once Port was done with his lecture.

* * *

After getting their detentions set for them, Port decided to let the older girls of team RWBY leave for their next class. As soon as the three girls got out of the classroom, they heard someone whistling and quickly found Ruby leaning on the wall near the class, while looking at her Scroll and whistling happy tunes.

"So, how did it go with Port?" the redhead girl asked without even looking up from her Scroll. "Did you guys get detention or something?"

Without any warning, Weiss ran up to her partner and grabbed her by the front of her shirt, getting the younger girl's full attention. The heiress had a look of pure fury on her face as she glared at Ruby.

"How do you think it went!?" Weiss asked with anger dripping from her voice. "We were all given detention, with me getting extra for being the team leader! Why did you throw us under the bus like that!?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Ruby replied in complete calmness, not bothered by her partner's angry outburst at all. "Why would you try to put the blame on me for something that YOU were supposed to look after? Now that you're the leader, I shouldn't have to worry about getting any of you to wake up on time."

"What are you-?"

"Did you really think I was blowing my whistle in the morning for fun?" the scythe-wielder asked, cutting off the older girl. "I am very well aware of how angry people get upon being waken up from their sleep. Do you think I'm really so stupid that I would do that every single morning to people I share a room with? I have to do it in order to make sure my team gets up in time for classes, so I don't get yelled at by the teachers. And it's NOT as easy as it sounds. Especially when there are people you have to take special precautions with."

"Just what are you implying!?" Weiss asked while still seething in anger. "Are you saying that all those times you woke us up with that damn whistle of yours was for our sake!?"

"That is EXACTLY what I'm saying," Ruby answered. "I've known Yang for my whole life, so I know just how hard it is to get her out of bed. I'm willing to bet that you found out about that yourself this morning, when she most likely attacked you upon having her hair touched. And since she has her inhuman strength, her strikes hurt. I had to start using the whistle when we were still in Signal, so we could get to school in time!"

The heiress and Blake both turned to look at Yang with wide eyes, having not expected to hear such a thing about their teammate. The blonde herself looked away with an ashamed look on her face, remembering how she had acted back in the past. Or to be more specific, still acted.

"So, Ruby, what you're saying is that every single time you were blowing that whistle of yours to get us up, it was for our sake?" Blake asked to which the redhead nodded. "Why didn't you ever tell us about that?"

"Would you have ever believed me?" Ruby asked in return. "Considering how every time I did it, all I heard from you three were things like, "Ruby, stop being immature!", "Ruby, I'm trying to sleep!" and "You're such a brat, Ruby!", I doubt any of you would have believed me."

The cat faunus looked down in shame at what her former team leader just told her, because it was true. Even if Ruby had told them that what she was doing was for their sake, none of them would have believed it. They would have just said that the redhead was making excuses for bratty behavior.

"Alright, so you were blowing your whistle for the sake of your team. I get that. That still doesn't excuse you for letting us be late to our classes!" Weiss said accusingly. "Couldn't you have at least tried to get us up!?"

"And have all three of you complaining about it? No thanks. I've had enough of that," Ruby replied. "Besides, you wanted to take up the duties and responsibilities of a team leader, didn't you? How about from now on, you fulfill them like you're supposed to?"

The heiress started to turn red from anger. No matter what she tried, she couldn't put any of the blame on her partner, even if she wanted to. In the end, Ruby had done nothing wrong.

"Just you wait. I might have a bad start, but I'll show you just how good of a leader I can be!" Weiss declared. "From now on, I won't make the same mistake again!"

Upon hearing the white-haired girl's declaration, Ruby laughed. The three older girls were staring at their youngest member with surprised looks on their faces, wondering what she found so funny.

"Oh, Weiss... You're so naive it's practically adorable," Ruby said with a smile. "This is just the tip of the iceberg."

Weiss was about to say something in return, but felt that strange chill she had felt earlier in the classroom again. The heiress patted herself around her skirt and her eyes went wide and her face turned red from embarrassment, as she realized something.

She had left her dorm in such a hurry that she had forgotten to put on her underpants.

"Something wrong, Weiss?" Yang asked, noticing the sudden change in her teammate. "You look a little red."

"Uhhh... I'm sorry, but I need to go back to the dorm urgently," the white-haired girl answered as she started to walk away. "If I'm late for the next class, please tell the teacher that I really needed to go."

While Yang and Blake watched Weiss leave with confused looks on their faces, Ruby was snickering. It seemed like she had realized what had happened to her partner.

Things were going even better than the redhead had imagined.

* * *

**Author's notes: As you can probably see, the whole premise of this story is based around the idea that the team leaders in Beacon have a lot more responsibility than others, which I think should be the case. In the actual series, the team leaders feel more like they are just part of their teams and nothing more, even when they should be responsible for the lives of their teammates. I kind of wanted to take this idea and use it a bit.**

**I got the idea for this chapter from how Ruby used a whistle in season one. I wanted to imagine her having an actual reason for using it other than for one silly joke in the series. Not to mention, one would think that it was the team leader's responsibility to make sure their team was on time where they are required to be.**

**Also, like Ruby herself said, this was just the tip of the iceberg. I have other things planned for this story, so I hope you guys check them out. I also would like to thank you guys for your support, as it's the reason I decided to continue it. Hope I won't disappoint you all.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	3. Study Session

**Leader Change**

**Chapter 3: Study Session**

After a rather rough morning, the rest of team RWBY's day managed to go without much bigger problems. Classes proceeded smoothly and the four girls managed to get a good amount of studying done. There was still the bad aftertaste of what had happened earlier that still bothered the three older girls of the team, but the trio still managed to keep themselves composed through the day.

However, after classes were over, Weiss felt like it was time for her to show how her skills as a leader to the rest of her team. And the heiress had a plan on how to do it.

"Hey, you three. I want us all to gather in the library later," Weiss said to her teammates. "I think it's time we had ourselves a good study session."

Blake and Yang looked at each other in confusion, while Ruby remained perfectly neutral. The two older girls wondered why they suddenly needed a study session.

"Is that necessary?" Blake asked. "We don't have any exams coming up or anything, so do we really need to go to the library for any extra studies?"

"Yeah! Besides, we had a rough day!" Yang said, agreeing with her partner. "Wouldn't it be enough for us to simply do our homework for the day and then relax for the rest of the remaining time we have?"

"Studying is always good for you, which is why I want us to do it as much as possible and improve ourselves!" Weiss declared proudly. "I intend to make our team one of the best ones in the whole school, which requires me to get you three working as well!"

"We understand that studying is helpful and everything, but we need to do more than studying as well!" the cat faunus argued.

"Exactly! Life's about much more than test scores and grades!" the blonde added. "Not to mention, when Rubes was team leader, we only had study sessions every now and then! Not at the end of every day!"

"Well, I am the leader of the team now, so I have decided to change things!" the heiress declared. "And I don't see why any of you should be so worried. With my guidance, I'm certain that you all will not only improve greatly, but that it will go without any trouble!"

Seeing as how their new team leader wasn't going to listen to them, Blake and Yang turned their attention towards Ruby, hoping that their former leader could help persuade Weiss.

"Don't look at me. I'm more surprised that she didn't make this declaration sooner," Ruby said in a completely neutral tone. "I've been her partner all this time, so I was pretty much convinced this would happen sooner or later. It isn't even all that different from how things used to be between me and her, as she often dragged me off to a study session at the end of a day."

"Rubes, are you serious?" Yang asked with wide eyes. "Are you telling me that after every day of school, Weiss would drag you along to the library for a study session?"

"Pretty much, yeah," the scythe-wielder answered. "Why are you guys so surprised? Didn't you ever notice it?"

Both Yang and Blake shared a concerned look with each other, worried over what was going to happen, before turning their attention back to Weiss, who had a smug smile on her face.

"And now that I am the new team leader, I think it's appropriate to extend this little tradition between Ruby and I to the rest of our team," the heiress said happily. "In fact, it's a direct order from your team leader, so I hope you ALL will be following it."

Yang and Blake couldn't help but frown a bit. It started to feel like things had been better when Ruby was the team leader.

* * *

Some time later, most of team RWBY was sitting at a large table in the library. The one person who was missing was Weiss, who had gone to collect the necessary material for their study session, while the other three members waited.

As they were waiting, Yang and Blake couldn't help but be nervous over what their new leader had planned for them. While they had taken part in study sessions as a team, this was the first time the session was completely led and directed by Weiss. They knew that the heiress was somewhat obsessed with getting good grades and that she took her studies very seriously, but they had never had her fully take over the whole team's studies. The two girls only knew that Ruby hated the study sessions she had with her partner, but always put that on the younger girl not liking to study. However, now they couldn't help but feel like something bad was going to happen.

"So, Ruby, what do you think we should expect from this session?" Blake asked the younger girl, hoping to get some sort of an idea on what they were in for. "Anything we should be specifically prepared for?"

"Just be prepared to do a lot of work," Ruby answered. "Also, I would advise you to simply keep your eyes on your book at all times. Even if you're not actually working, it should be enough to get through this to just pretend that you are."

Before the cat faunus could ask what her former team leader meant, Weiss came back while carrying a big stack of books that almost made her fall over. The heiress then proceeded to dump a part of the stack in front of each of her teammates with a smile on her face.

"Alright, I got at least most of the material that I wanted, so we should be able to get at least some amount of work done," Weiss said as she took a seat at the table. "Now, I specifically chose the books for each of you based on your recent performance in school. This way you will be able to better yourself in the subjects you're having the most trouble with."

Both Blake and Yang were staring at the books that they were given with wide eyes. They had expected their teammate to bring them maybe two books each, instead of the five they were given. And to make things worse, they weren't small ones either, but the very large ones that you could practically use as weapons.

While the two girls were still in shock over what their new team leader had given them, Ruby had actually opened up the first of her books and had begun studying. It was as if this was completely normal to her.

"Weiss, you can't be serious!" Yang pleaded to her teammate. "You aren't going to have us go through all of these today, are you!?"

"Oh, of course not! How delusional do you think I am!?" Weiss said with a slight huff, bringing some relief to two of her teammates. "I expect you to go through a third of each of them."

Blake's face turned pale while Yang let her head fall on the table. They couldn't believe how much their new leader was demanding from them.

"Weiss, don't you think that you're going a bit too far!?" Blake asked in a slight panic. "You can't seriously expect us to go through that much studying in one go!"

"Why couldn't I?" the heiress asked with a raised eyebrow. "I used to go through similar amounts of studying back home on an almost daily basis. I can't see why you guys couldn't do the same now."

Seeing as Weiss' mind wouldn't be changed, the two girls turned their attention to Ruby once again, hoping that the younger girl could possibly help them.

"Rubes, can't you say something to her!?" Yang pleaded. "The things she's asking us to do are insane!"

"Why should I bother, when I know that it wouldn't work?" Ruby asked with a raised eyebrow. "Ever since she became my partner, she has had me go through this almost every day. If I couldn't change her mind during that time even once, why should this be any different? Especially now that she is the team leader."

"And yet you still aren't achieving the results that I was hoping you would," Weiss said with a slight glare directed at her partner. "Sometimes I wonder if you're taking your studies seriously at all."

Both Yang and Blake's faces fell in despair, thinking about the mess they were currently stuck in. Ruby's grades were among some of the best in the whole school, yet the heiress didn't think that they were good enough. Now that she had the position of team leader, the two girls could only fear what their lives would be like with the perfectionist most likely breathing down their necks all the time. They also couldn't help but feel sorry for Ruby. All this time they had thought that the reason the younger girl didn't want to go to her partner's study sessions was out of dislike towards studying. Now that they knew what it was really like, they could understand why their former leader tried her best to avoid them.

"Now, what are you all waiting for!?" Weiss asked sternly. "I brought you all here to study, so I'm expecting you all to make at least some progress! The library won't stay open forever!"

Resigning to their fate, Yang and Blake simply opened their books and began to study. At this point, they just hoped that their whole session wouldn't go too badly.

* * *

It had been a bit over four hours since team RWBY's study session had started, and the only member of the team that was still in high spirits was Weiss. Ruby herself had started to show signs of exhaustion some time ago, but she was still doing much better than her other two teammates. Both Yang and Blake looked like they were completely drained of life, as they struggled to even pretend that they were still studying. The raven-haired girl had actually begun to hate books thanks this session, which was something she would have never thought to even be possible. The blonde was even worse, as she felt like tearing her precious hair out of her head. It was clear that they wouldn't last long.

The two exhausted girls had been asking for breaks from their new team leader, but other than just one or two five minute breaks, they were forced to keep studying the whole time. Unfortunately, the only one who was used to this was Weiss. While Ruby may have gotten somewhat used to her partner's hellish studying, the other two girls were completely new to this type of study sessions. You also had to keep in mind that they had just finished classes before they started their session, meaning that a lot of stress and exhaustion had already piled on top of them.

"GAH! No more! NO MORE!" Yang suddenly yelled and fell over the table. "I can't take this anymore! We've been at this for hours already! Haven't we done enough for one day!?"

"Oh, would you stop complaining!? This is for your own good, Yang!" Weiss said sternly at her teammate. "Besides, you will thank me later, when you see how good your grades are!"

"We do understand the importance of studying, but you are clearly going too far!" Blake said while glaring at the heiress. "There is a limit to how much work one can take in one go like this! And I'm sure our limits have already been met!"

"My God... This is like dealing with children," the white-haired girl mumbled to herself and pinched the bridge of her nose out of annoyance. "Look, you two, the work we do here today is going to help us reach new heights that others might never even be able to dream of! Are you not willing to take your skills as Huntresses to the next level?"

"I am more than willing to take my skills to a higher level, but I need something else in my life too!" Yang said angrily. "Did you honestly think that we would be happy to waste away in the library like this!? Think again!"

"You're not wasting away, you're studying for the sake of a better future! Now stop whining and get back to work! Just look at Ruby!" Weiss said, getting causing everyone to look at their youngest teammate. "She hasn't complained at all and has made a lot more progress than both of you combined! Although, she still isn't making anywhere near the progress I would like her to make..."

"Thanks a lot for your show of appreciation, Weiss," Ruby muttered and rolled her eyes.

Both Yang and Blake looked at the amount of notes the redhead had taken so far and their eyes went wide. Their former team leader had actually done a great amount of work and had a small stack of notes to show it.

"Ruby, is this what your study sessions with Weiss are normally like?" Blake asked. "This amount of work is just insane!"

"This is pretty much normal for me," Ruby answered as she kept studying. "I've just been lucky enough that she hasn't been able to make this a daily thing, despite how much she has tried to do that. I doubt I would be able to survive it for long."

Upon hearing the younger girl's answer, Yang and Blake felt bad for how they always thought that Ruby was just being childish by doing her best to avoid Weiss' study sessions. Now they completely understood why the redhead did it, as they felt like running away as well. This was just their first session and they never wanted to have a repeat of it ever again.

The members of team RWBY kept studying for some time, when Blake suddenly noticed a small paper ball make it's way to her. She looked up and saw Yang wink at her, telling her just who had sent it. The cat faunus picked up the piece of paper and unfolded it underneath the table, so Weiss wasn't able to see it. It was a message from her partner, and once she had read it, Blake looked at Yang and gave a small nod.

The brawler smirked upon getting the nod from the raven-haired girl. It was time to start her plan.

"Weiss, can I take a break?" Yang asked in an innocent voice. "I've been sitting for so long that my legs are starting to feel numb. Mind if I take a small walk?"

"Fine, but make sure that you get back here soon," Weiss replied with a sigh. "The library won't be open forever."

_'Oh, I'm counting on that,'_ the blonde thought to herself with a smirk, as she got up from her seat. It didn't take long for Blake to do the same.

"I think I'll also take a break," the cat faunus said. "I feel like I need to move my legs a bit."

"For the love of- Am I the only one who takes her studies seriously?" Weiss asked in a frustrated tone. She then turned her attention to Ruby. "YOU better not be thinking about doing the same, understood?"

The redhead looked up from her book and saw Yang motioning towards her, telling the younger girl to come along. However, despite wanting to go with her two teammates, Ruby knew it was better for at least someone to stay with Weiss. Otherwise, her partner would go out of control with her anger.

"I'll be staying here, Weiss," the former team leader said in a slightly defeated tone. "No need to worry about me."

Yang and Blake were saddened by the younger girl's decision to stay behind, but they knew she did it for the best of them all. While Weiss was focusing on her studies, the two girls walked away from the rest of their team and out of sight.

"Man, I feel so bad for Rubes," Yang whispered to her partner. "She has to go through torture like this with ice queen all the time."

"Not only that, but do you remember how condescending Weiss was?" Blake asked. "Even after Ruby had been working for a long time without any complaints, she still hadn't done enough in Weiss' opinion. How awful must it be to go through that as many times as she has?"

"Well, at least we won't be repeating this anytime soon," the blonde said. "Hopefully, we can get Ruby to join us on that."

* * *

After Yang and Blake had left, Weiss and Ruby continued their study session on their own. However, when the two missing girls didn't seem to return, the heiress started to get frustrated. She had told her two teammates to get back soon, yet they were nowhere to be seen. It was almost like they had disappeared.

"Just what is taking so long with those two?" Weiss asked and got up from her seat. "Wait here, Ruby. I'll go look for our missing teammates."

"Sure, Weiss," Ruby answered without looking up from her book. _'I doubt you'll find them, though.'_

The white-haired girl walked around the library for a bit, before she noticed a window that had been left open. Since it was letting cold air in, Weiss decided to go and close it. Upon walking up to the window, she noticed a folded piece of paper had been left stuck on the corner of the window. Not only that, but the paper also had Weiss' name written on it.

"Huh? What's this supposed to be?" the heiress wondered, as she took the paper and opened it up. Upon reading what was written inside, her eyes went wide.

In bold red letters, there was a simple message:

_**SCREW YOU!**_

_**From Yang and Blake**_

As soon as she had read the message, Weiss' body began to tremble, her face turned red and she began to grit her teeth. Before she knew it, the heiress had torn the message into tiny pieces in a second out of pure rage. She had even let out a loud scream, which seemed to have been heard by her partner, who quickly walked up to her.

"Let me guess. They left without saying anything?" Ruby asked in complete calmness with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I wouldn't say that they left without saying SOMETHING, but yes! Those two spineless cowards left!" Weiss answered while growling. "How could they just do that!? What sort of students would run away from studying like this!? Not to mention, their team leader!"

"Weiss, you might be their team leader, but you can't expect them to follow every order you decide to give them," the redhead explained. "Even if they have to follow your orders during missions or school activities, they are not obligated to do so during their free time. If they decide they don't want to spend their time with your study session, all they have to do is walk away and not come here."

"But I was still held responsible for them being late for classes! I have to carry the responsibility of seeing that they do their schoolwork properly!" the white-haired girl complained. "How is this fair!? I have to look after them almost all the time, yet I can't even order them around!"

"Because you are their team leader and you have the responsibilities and duties of a leader to go along with that," Ruby answered. "As the leader of our team, you have to look after the well-being of your teammates and the overall effectiveness of your team. Even if you get to give orders sometimes, it doesn't mean you have full authority over their whole lives."

"B-But... then... what good is it to be a team leader at all!?" Weiss asked with wide eyes. "What's the point of being a leader, if you don't even really get to lead!?"

"There is a point, but I'm not telling it to you. You need to figure that out for yourself," the former team leader answered, before she began to walk away. "By the way, I'll give you one piece of advice. Treat your teammates like human beings, not like they're your servants back home. It will help you out a lot."

With her advice left for her partner, Ruby went to gather her supplies and leave the library, leaving the heiress behind. It didn't take long for Weiss to give up on further studying, as her anger was most likely going to prevent her from continuing. She just hoped that her second day as a leader would be better.

* * *

**Author's notes: Hope you guys liked the chapter! This took a bit longer than it was originally supposed to take, as I had to rewrite some of it.**

**I decided to use the idea of Weiss' study sessions for one of the chapters, where Yang and Blake would find out what they're really like. Since a lot of people who write fanfics always make it like Ruby is just being childish in trying to avoid her partner's study sessions, I thought about making it so that she had a good reason to avoid them. Don't get me wrong, studying is important, but there is such a thing as too much work.**

**Anyways, I'm happy to see that a lot of you are supporting this story and want to see it continue. I'll be working on the next chapter soon.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	4. Team Activity

**Leader Change**

**Chapter 4: Team Activity**

It had been a couple of days since team RWBY's study session under Weiss. After that, Yang and Blake had been doing their best to avoid their new team leader, hoping to not get pulled into another one of the heiress' hellish study sessions. Weiss obviously tried her best to get her two teammates to join, but was unable to do so. It was clear that the two girls would do practically anything to not spend time with the white-haired girl in the library.

Strangely enough, this all worked out well for Ruby as well. Since her partner was too busy chasing their two teammates, the redhead was left completely alone by Weiss, allowing her to not only spend her free time the way she wanted, but to also study at her own pace, too. To say the least, Ruby was quite happy with how things were turning out. Not only did she not have to worry about all the things that came along with being a team leader, but she also got herself some much needed peace from her partner. In short, things were looking good for the scythe-wielder.

However, once Friday came along, things took a bit of a change for the members of team RWBY. At one point, they had come to an agreement that the Friday afternoon would be spent together as a "team day," which meant that one of the four girls needed to come up with an activity that they all could take part in. This was usually done in one of two ways. Either each member gave a suggestion that they would decide upon or Ruby had to come up with something. The reason the redhead was tasked with the duty of making the final decision was because her three teammates had very different tastes, which meant that she often had to make sure they were all happy with what they ended up doing. But now that Ruby was no longer the team leader, she hadn't even thought about what kind of activity they would do for the day.

Ruby had been reading one her books while laying on her bed, when her sister had suddenly walked up to her with an excited glint in her eyes.

"Hey, Rubes, what are we going to do today?" Yang asked her sister with a slight hint of anticipation in her voice. "I'm really looking forward to what you've got planned for this week's Team Day! Are we going to the movies? Or the arcade? I even heard that there was a great carnival in the city today!"

Ruby looked around and saw Blake staring at her as well, clearly waiting for her answer. The former team leader had not expected to be put on the spot like that, as she no longer had the same duties she used to have. She had honestly not even thought about the whole "Team Day" that they were supposed to have that day, so she was honestly at a loss.

"Sorry, Yang, but I haven't got anything for us to do," Ruby answered with a sad sigh, hating the fact that she had to disappoint her older sister like this. "Ever since I stopped being team leader, I haven't considered the things I used to do even a bit. I honestly have no ideas for today's Team Day."

"Oh... That's a shame," Yang said in slight disappointment. "But don't let it bother you, Rubes! We can find other ways to amuse ourselves! Heck, if nothing else, we can always stay here and play video games or watch movies!"

"That doesn't sound too bad to me," Blake said with a small smile. "It could be a nice change of pace to do something much calmer for once. No need to go out to the city every time."

Seeing as how even her partner was up for her idea, Yang was about to go and get the games ready, when the fourth member of their team suddenly cleared her throat rather loudly, getting everyone's attention. The three girls turned to look at Weiss, who was sitting on her bed with a confident smile on her face.

"Actually, since I have been made our team's leader, I decided to prepare for this day," the heiress said. "I have an idea on how we could spend our Team Day and I'm certain that you will all enjoy it."

Yang and Blake looked at each other for a second, uncertain about the idea of Weiss making preparations for a team activity. After the whole mess with the study session, they had started to doubt the ideas the white-haired girl had.

However, a certain redhead seemed to be more than willing to let Weiss decide the way they would spend the day.

"Alright, I think that settles it then," Ruby said. "Since no one seems to have any better ideas, I think it might be a good idea to go with what our leader has planned. By the way, what is your idea for our Team Day?"

"That's a secret, but I will assure that you will all enjoy it," Weiss answered with a smirk. "However, in return for the Team Day I have planned for you all, I hope that you could show some appreciation by joining my study sessions from now on."

Neither Yang nor Blake were fully convinced yet. The fact that the heiress had made preparations for their team activity in order to get them to join her horrible study sessions was causing alarm bells to ring in their heads like crazy. Not to mention, they didn't even know what Weiss had planned served as a warning sign.

Then again, they weren't exactly obligated to join her study sessions even if they went along with what their white-haired teammate had planned. In other words, it seemed like it was a win-win situation.

"Alright, we'll consider joining your study sessions from now on, depending on what kind of an activity you have planned for us," Yang finally replied to Weiss' offer. "However, whatever you're planning better be good, alright?"

"Oh, trust me. You are certainly going to enjoy it," the heiress said with a big smile. She then got up from her bed and walked to the bathroom. "Now that we have all agreed on what we'll be doing, I guess it's time we all got ready for the day. We need to leave soon, if we want to be on time."

After Weiss had closed the bathroom door, both Blake and Yang turned their attention towards Ruby, hoping to get some answers from their youngest teammate.

"Ruby, do you have any idea what she might be planning?" Yang asked her sister. "While I did say that I would give whatever she was planning a chance, I can't help but feel a bit skeptical about it. Do you think she has planned anything fun for us?"

"Hard to say. This is the first time she has told me anything about any plans she has for our Team Day," the former leader answered with a shrug. "All I know is that I'm going to make some preparations, just in case things go wrong."

The two older girls wondered what Ruby might have been talking about, but didn't ask about it. After all, they were just going out to the city to have a good time. What's the worst that could happen?

* * *

Some time later, the members of team RWBY were in the city of Vale, ready for whatever Weiss had planned for them. The heiress had led her teammates around the city and eventually arrived at their destination, which was an opera house. She had actually reserved tickets for all four members of the team to go see one of the shows they were going to perform. There were a lot of different people coming to the opera house, but none of them looked like team RWBY's members at all, as they wore clothes that were clearly expensive, and the people also walked around in a manner that told everyone of their higher class.

"Well, what do you guys think?" Weiss asked her teammates with a proud smile on her face. "I told you that you guys would enjoy what I had planned for you! We are going to be watching one of the greatest opera shows ever made! Doesn't that get you just excited?"

However, instead of the eager cheers and compliments that she had expected to get, all the white-haired girl received was silence in response. She looked at her teammates and noticed that they didn't seem all that excited. Ruby seemed to be completely indifferent, which was the most positive reaction Weiss had managed to get from her three teammates. While Blake seemed to be nothing but unsure and skeptical, Yang was staring at the opera house in what seemed to be pure horror. The blonde looked like she was witnessing some sort of a tragedy right in front of her eyes.

"Hey now, what kind of a reaction is that!?" Weiss asked, somewhat offended by how her teammates were acting. "I did plan this for the sake of all of us! The least you three could do was show some form of-"

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, ICE QUEEN!?" Yang yelled angrily at her teammate. "An opera!? Seriously!? That's the best thing you could come up with!? What is wrong with you!?"

Before Weiss could speak up to defend herself, Blake decided to speak up.

"I kind of have to agree with Yang, Weiss," the cat faunus said in an awkward tone. "I don't think this is exactly an activity that suits us all. While I have no doubt that you'll like it, I don't think that we will all like it."

"How can either one of you even say that!?" the white-haired girl asked angrily. "I mean has either one of you ever even been to an opera before!?"

Blake and Yang were about to answer, but stopped upon realizing that Weiss was right. They actually had not been to an opera before, so they really couldn't say that they honestly hated them. Both girls were mostly going on what they thought operas were really like, so they couldn't really say anything that would make their reaction to the opera seem reasonable.

"Well, I don't care if we go in or not. I leave that up to you guys," Ruby said indifferently. "So, what will be the group's decision? Shall we go in or not?"

Before either of the two doubtful girls could even really consider their options, Weiss decided to add something.

"I would also like to remind you all that I have already paid for the tickets," the heiress said. "If we go away now, it will be a waste of money."

Yang and Blake gave each other one last look before deciding to agree with Weiss' idea, much to the fencer's delight. After all, Weiss had made plans specifically for their sake and had even paid for them. It would be pretty rude to just turn down her offer at this point, especially when they wouldn't lose anything.

_'I've never imagined myself to be one for operas, but I guess I've got nothing better planned anyways,'_ Yang thought to herself as they walked in. _'Besides, who knows? I might end up actually enjoying it!'_

* * *

About an hour and a half later, the members of team RWBY had been sitting in the theater, watching the opera, which had been enough for Yang and Blake to make up their minds on operas.

_'Alright, I was WAY too hopeful! I'm not enjoying this! THIS ABSOLUTE TORTURE!'_ Yang thought to herself, as she wanted to do nothing but run out of the opera house while firing her gauntlets at anything that got in her way. _'This has got to be some sort of a crime against humanity! WHEN WILL THIS END!?'_

What Weiss had failed to tell her teammates was that the opera they were watching would last a total of five hours. So far, they hadn't even reached the halfway point yet, meaning that they were in for a long show.

Hoping to find something to save her from her suffering, Yang started to look at her teammates to see how they had decided to endure the torture they were locked in. The way the team was seated had the blonde sitting at the left of the whole group with Weiss sitting on her right. After the heiress came Blake and then last was Ruby. Yang checked out each of her teammates' faces to see if they were paying attention to the show or not. Much like she had expected, Weiss was completely taken by the opera, as she had a look of utter bliss on her face while watching the show. Blake wasn't doing much better than Yang, as the cat faunus had a pained expression on her face.

However, Ruby seemed to be strangely calm, like nothing was bothering her at all. Upon further inspection, Yang found out that the redhead had her headphones on and she was playing a game on her Scroll.

_'What the-!? Why is Rubes playing games?'_ the brawler wondered, until she realized something. _'Wait a minute! She said that she was going to make some preparations! Is that what she meant!?'_

Upon finding out what her little sister was doing, Yang decided to follow her example. She quickly pulled out her Scroll and turned it on, hoping to play some games. After selecting the game she was going to play, she noticed on the game's menu that Ruby was playing the same game right now. Hoping to get to play with the younger girl, the blonde was about to send an invite to her sister, when suddenly the game showed that Ruby had suddenly logged off. Before she had the time to fully realize what happened, Yang felt someone tap her shoulder. The brawler looked to her side and saw Weiss giving her the most murderous glare she had ever seen.

"Yang Xiao Long, what do you think you're doing!?" the heiress hissed at her teammate, taking the Scroll from her hands. "How dare you play games during a high-class opera!? Don't you have any manners!?"

"B-B-But the only reason I did that was because Ruby was doing it, too!" Yang said in her defense.

However, when she and Weiss both turned their attention to their former team leader, they saw that Ruby was quietly watching the opera with no Scroll in sight.

"What are you talking about? Ruby's Scroll is nowhere in sight!" the white-haired girl said in a scolding tone. "Now, stop acting like an immature child and show some respect to the opera!"

After scolding her teammate, Weiss returned to watching the show. Yang pretended to do the same, except she kept looking towards Ruby. She knew that her younger sister had been gaming just a moment ago, just like she had seen. Ruby had just managed to hide her Scroll fast enough, so that Weiss didn't see it.

Upon taking another look towards the redhead, Yang's eyes went wide upon what she saw this time. Somehow, Ruby had managed to sneak comic books with her, as she was currently in the middle of reading one of them.

_'That's the newest issue of Tarantula-Guy! It's one of my favorites! How did Ruby bring it in with her!?'_ Yang wondered upon finding out what her sister was reading. She then noticed a small bag that was full of comics that seemed to hidden under Ruby's cloak. _'So that's how she brought those in! She knew that there was a possibility that Weiss' Team Day activity was going to suck, so she brought some other stuff with her for entertainment! And with the way we are seated, she has Blake covering her from Weiss' eyesight! She planned this whole thing upon finding out Weiss was taking us to the opera!'_

As much as the blonde wanted to get one of Ruby's comics for herself, she knew that she couldn't do it. Weiss was going to get enraged at her again, and there was the possibility that the redhead herself would get caught. Even if she was bored, Yang wasn't so petty as to drag her little sister down because of it.

However, someone else had also noticed the equipment Ruby was carrying with herself. Blake had seen the bag of comics that was sitting next to the former team leader, and she wanted one of the comics for herself. Even if she was more into books, the cat faunus did enjoy comic books occasionally. Besides, right now, anything was better than simply watching the opera that was playing in front of them.

As slowly and carefully as she could, Blake brought her hand towards Ruby's bag of comics. Upon reaching the goods, she took hold of one of them and pulled it out for herself. The raven-haired girl had a triumphant smile spread over her face, as she opened up her spoils of victory and started reading.

Unfortunately, Blake's reading time was brought to an abrupt stop, as the comic was snatched from her hands by a certain angry heiress.

"Blake, what is the matter with you!?" Weiss angrily hissed at the faunus. "What made you think that bringing comics to an opera was a good idea!? Have you no shame!?"

"But I didn't bring this with me!" Blake argued. "Ruby is the one who brought it, along with a bunch of other comics!"

However, when the cat faunus and Weiss looked at said girl, the comic books were nowhere to be seen, and Ruby was simply watching the opera.

"First Yang and now you! I honestly thought that you were better than your partner, but I guess you're just as childish as she is! Just because Ruby is younger than you, doesn't mean you can push the blame on her!" the white-haired girl scolded Blake. "Now pay attention to the opera and start acting your age!"

After the raven-haired girl had been scolded by her new team leader, neither Blake or Yang tried to do anything, deciding it was best to resign to their fates. The two girls just sat quietly while suffering through the opera, while Ruby would use some of the stuff she brought to distract herself from the show. In the end, only Weiss fully enjoyed the opera.

* * *

Team RWBY eventually got out of the opera house, after what felt like an eternity to Yang and Blake. The four girls walked out of the building with Weiss being the only one smiling in the group.

"So? What did you guys think about it?" the heiress asked happily. "I think I chose just the perfect activity for our Team Day! I mean, who doesn't like opera?"

"Are you freaking KIDDING ME, WEISS!?" Yang yelled at her teammate with red eyes and a red face. "How the hell was THAT any fun!? That was nothing but pure torture! Easily the worst five hours of my entire life!"

Before Weiss could defend her choice for their team activity, Blake spoke up.

"I completely agree with Yang! You didn't consider any of your teammates when you decided to have our Team Day here!" the cat faunus said angrily. "What in the world made you think that this was a good idea!?"

"Well, excuse me for trying to give our team some culture!" Weiss argued. "The show that you just witnessed is one of the greatest opera shows ever created! Not only are the tickets expensive, but also incredibly hard to get! I had to use everything I had in order to get us all in there, yet neither of you two is showing any appreciation! Honestly, such great shows are wasted on the likes of you!"

"OH, SO WE'RE TOO DUMB TO APPRECIATE YOUR OVERRATED, ARROGANT GARBAGE!? IS THAT IT!?" Yang roared with her hair now glowing, showing just how angry she was. This caused the white-haired girl to shrink on herself out of fear.

"Well- I- I didn't mean-" Weiss tried to defend herself, realizing the error in what she had just said.

"I don't need to hear your excuses. You've said more than enough already," the blonde said and began to walk away with Blake following her. The cat faunus gave one last glare at the heiress, before leaving.

Now that two of their teammates had left, Weiss and Ruby were left alone near the entrance to the opera house. The fencer was staring at where Yang and Blake had just been standing not too long ago with her body frozen in shock, preventing her from moving or even speaking. It wasn't until her partner put a hand on her shoulder that she finally moved.

"Yeah, making plans for entertainment that the whole team enjoys isn't exactly all that easy, Weiss," Ruby said calmly. "It's surprisingly difficult to find something that could entertain all four of us, especially when we have such different tastes."

"That's easy for you to say!" Weiss yelled at the younger girl. "When you were in charge, we would always go to arcades, movies or amusement parks! If we didn't do something like that, we would be in the dorm, playing board games, video games or watching movies! I at least tried to give our team something different and look what it got me!"

"I will admit that it is a bit admirable that you tried to offer something new, but I think you went about it in the wrong way," the redhead explained. "I mean, a five hour opera isn't exactly something that any of us, except for you, has any experience with. It was a very risky gambit to try and have all of us enjoy it. I personally always made sure that we would be doing something that each of us would enjoy to at least some extent. After all, the whole point of a team day is for us ALL to have fun, right?"

"That's what I was trying to do!" the heiress yelled. "How is it my fault that none of you were able to appreciate what I did for you!?"

"Because you weren't thinking about OUR feelings on the matter. You were only thinking about what you personally liked and tried to get us to like it, too. That shows how little you know about your teammates, which is pretty bad for a team leader," Ruby replied before she began to walk away. "Also, if you think that everything you've been through so far has been bad, I can assure you that this is nothing yet. You still haven't faced the worst thing that comes with being a team leader."

Weiss watched her partner leave, while thinking about her warning. She couldn't believe that things could get any worse from this point on. After all, how could anything top all the humiliation and frustration she had faced so far?

The heiress didn't know it yet, but it was only a matter if time before she learned that Ruby's words were indeed true.

* * *

**Author's notes: For this chapter I wanted to use the idea of team RWBY spending time together as a team for a plot. The thing I wanted to do was have Weiss completely decide what kind of an activity she and her teammates would have on their team day. Since Weiss is from a high-class family, one would think that she is a fan of operas and other such things.**

**There have been a couple of things that people have brought up to me while I've been writing this story. One of them is that Weiss isn't an incompetent leader and the second one is that the team leaders of RWBY don't really have any duties or responsibilities.**

**For the first one, I fully know that Weiss wouldn't be an incompetent leader. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she was a better leader than Ruby. However, since in season one of the series the whole thing about Weiss not being made the team leader was brought up with Port actually saying that her being leader was "preposterous," one would think that there should be clear reasons as to why she isn't the leader. The idea of this story is to show why she isn't actually the team leader. Other than the fact that Ruby is the protagonist and she isn't.**

**As for the second thing, am I the only one who thinks that the team leaders not having any actual duties or responsibilities sounds kind of dumb? We are talking about people who SHOULD have responsibility over their teammates and possibly even more. The idea that they are basically just part of the group with no special duties just sounds stupid. In this story, I want to make it so that the team leaders actually have duties and responsibilities, as their title should suggest. Besides, why would Weiss want the title so badly, if it doesn't really even mean anything?**

**Anyways, I hope you liked the chapter and will check out the later chapters, once they come out.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	5. Report Day

**Leader Change**

**Chapter 5: Report Day**

After team RWBY's trip to the opera, things had only gotten worse between Weiss and her teammates. Since the heiress had gone and insulted Yang and Blake for not liking opera, the two girls had put a lot of distance between themselves and their new team leader, causing there to be a complete lack of communication between them. Right now, the only member of the team that stayed close with Weiss was Ruby, as she still wanted to observe how the person who replaced her as team leader was doing.

The two partners were currently in the library, having a study session by themselves, except it wasn't going well. Weiss was unable to focus on her work at all, as her blunders as a team leader were weighing heavily on her shoulders. She was actually starting to have some regrets over her decision of taking up the position of a leader, although she was not willing to admit it to anyone, even herself.

The white-haired girl's troubles were easily noticed by Ruby, as she saw that her partner had done practically no work at all. Despite knowing that Weiss had essentially caused all of her problems on her own, the redhead couldn't help but feel that she needed to offer some form of assistance, even if just a couple words of advice.

"Weiss, do you perhaps need someone to talk to?" Ruby asked with a sigh. "I can easily tell that you're bothered by something, so why don't you just stop holding it in? I'm sure it will help out greatly."

"What are you talking about!? Nothing's wrong!" the heiress tried to lie, but it was easy for even a blind person to see through it. "I'm just... Thinking! That's right! I'm just thinking about all the things I've been studying!"

"For the love of God... Weiss, this would be a lot easier, if you just were honest about needing help. Believe it or not, I am not looking towards you failing as a team leader. I did mean it when I said that I'll let you take over as the leader, if you prove to be better for the job," the redhead explained. "However, we can't make any progress, if you're not willing to ask for help when you need it."

"That's easy for you to say," Weiss said with a slight growl in her voice. Her frustrations were starting to take over. "For as long as I can remember, I've been trained to be perfect at everything I do. There was never "good enough" for me. Either I was perfect or I failed."

"And you think that asking for help would mean that you've failed then? Is that it?" Ruby asked with a raised eyebrow. "Weiss, you need to get it through your head that no one is perfect. We all make mistakes and fail from time to time. What you need to do is learn from your mistakes, so you won't do them again."

"...You know, for a person who is about to lose her leader position, you're awfully calm about the whole thing. You're even offering to help me," the white-haired girl said while staring at her partner with eyes full of suspicion. "It's almost like you want me to become the new leader of our team."

"Hmmm... Who knows? Maybe I do," the younger girl said indifferently. "Although, I do have to say that for the time being, I've been simply enjoying watching you handle the job so far. It's been fun having someone else go through what I had to."

Weiss suddenly stood up from her seat and started to walk towards the library's exit.

"I'm going on a walk. I'll be back soon," the fencer said with a slight growl.

"...Guess she didn't like my answer," Ruby said to herself with a shrug.

* * *

Right outside the library, Weiss was walking back and forth while fuming. It wasn't bad enough that her first few days as a team leader had been complete failures, but there was also the issue with her partner. Despite having her position taken from her, Ruby seemed to be completely indifferent towards the whole thing, if not even enjoying the change in leadership. This bothered the heiress to no end, as it made her feel foolish for taking over as the leader, like she had been tricked by the redhead. It almost felt like all of this had been nothing but a big prank by Ruby, which infuriated Weiss greatly. And to top it all off, she couldn't even tell what the scythe-wielder's true intentions could possibly be.

Deciding to take a break from her walking, the white-haired girl leaned her back on a wall and let out a deep sigh. All of this was giving her the biggest headache she had ever had in her whole life. Right now, Weiss just hoped that she could get something that would take her mind off the things that were bothering her so much.

"Ms. Schnee, may I have a word with you?" a familiar voice suddenly called out to the heiress. She looked where the sound came and saw Glynda Goodwitch walk up to her. "There is something that I need to talk about with you. Mind if I have a moment of your time?"

"Of course, Professor Goodwitch," Weiss answered, giving her full attention to the teacher. "What is it that you need to talk with me about?"

"I just needed to tell you about something I fear Professor Ozpin might have forgotten to mention," the blonde woman answered. "You see, the team leaders of Beacon, such as yourself, have special classes they need to attend. They are held twice a month on a Saturday, and the next one is on this week. In other words, tomorrow. The class will be held in Professor Port's classroom. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes, I do understand everything you've told me so far, professor," the fencer answered, somewhat taken aback by this new information. "However, this is the first time I've heard about such classes. What exactly are they?"

"They are special classes designed to help the students in team leader positions to become better at taking care of their duties. The things that are discussed during each class change from time to time," Glynda explained, before taking a look at her Scroll and noticing the time. "Unfortunately, I fear that I do not have enough time to tell you more, but I think that Ms. Rose could offer you more insight. After all, she did take part in those classes and performed quite well. I'm certain that she would be of great help to you."

"I'll... consider that," Weiss replied with a forced smile as her right eye twitched a bit. After everything she had been through, she really hated the idea of asking Ruby for help.

With her message delivered, the blonde witch decided to leave. Now that the heiress was on her own, she faced the dilemma of either asking Ruby for more information on this "leadership class" that she had been told about or to take the class without any information and hoping for the best. Despite hating the idea with a passion, Weiss felt that it was for the best to simply swallow her pride for once and go ask her partner about it.

It didn't take long for the white-haired girl to get to Ruby again, who had been sitting silently at their table, studying. Hearing her partner walking towards her, the younger girl looked up from her book and saw an odd expression on Weiss. It looked like the heiress was trying to force a smile on her face while doing her best to not scream from pain.

"Weiss, is everything okay?" Ruby asked with a raised eyebrow. "You look like you could use a trip to a doctor's office."

"Oh, I'm fine! I'm fine!" Weiss quickly replied with her forced smile still on her face. "I just... need to ask you about something."

"Really now? What do you need to know?" the redhead asked.

"You see, Professor Goodwitch just informed me about something," the white-haired girl began to explain. "There are apparently some sort of special classes for the team leaders of Beacon that I was unaware of. Could you tell me more about them?"

"Sure, but I don't think there's much to really tell about them. I think it's best for you to go there and see for yourself," Ruby answered. "Those classes are different each time. Sometimes you're taught about what you should do as a team leader, sometimes you get taught proper leadership skills, it really depends on what has been planned for the day. There are even times when some professional Huntsmen and Huntresses come over there to tell you about their experiences and what they learned from them. However, there is one thing that always happens on those classes."

"What would that be?" Weiss asked, curious to hear what she was in for.

"Every time you have one of those team leader classes, you are required to make a report on the performance of your team," the former team leader answered. "In that, you are asked to tell how well your teammates are performing as a team and if there are any problems. And if there are problems, you are to provide suggestions as to how they can be fixed. It's essentially a test to see how well you can judge the people under your command and how well you can manage a team."

"Is that so?" the heiress said thoughtfully, her mind already racing with ideas.

"I should probably warn you that the teachers take those reports VERY seriously," Ruby added. "Depending on what you write, they might investigate the situation surrounding your team further in order to find out what's truly going on. I once saw Cardin get in trouble over lying in one of his reports about some of the things in his report. I have never seen Professor Goodwitch that angry before, nor did I ever believe I would see Cardin wet himself from fear."

"Oh, I'll keep that in mind," Weiss said with a small smirk on her face.

* * *

Saturday soon came upon the fencer, who quickly made her way to her special team leader class, hoping that she could use it as a chance to show her qualification to being a team leader for once. Upon entering the classroom, Weiss looked around in order to see any familiar faces among the other students. Unfortunately, the only two people that she recognized were Jaune and Cardin. It seemed like this class was specifically for the team leaders among the first year students, as Coco from team CFVY was nowhere to be seen.

Since she didn't really have any better options, the heiress took a seat next to Jaune. As confident as she was in her skills, Weiss was still stepping into new territory, so being able to ask someone she knew for advice seemed like a good idea. Even though the white-haired girl hated the idea of being near Jaune, the blonde knight was still her only option available. With Cardin being the only other person in the class that she knew, Weiss didn't really have other options, as she would rather shave her head bald before getting involved with the infamous bully at all.

"Oh! W-Weiss! I wasn't-!" Jaune began to stammer nervously, surprised by the heiress suddenly sitting next to him. However, the girl quickly cut him off.

"Save it, Jaune," Weiss said with a frustrated sigh. "I'm not in the mood for any of your lame flirting, so don't even start with it. The only reason I sat next to you is because you're the only one I know in here and I could use some help, since it's my first time in one of these classes."

"Well... I wasn't really going to start flirting or anything. I was just surprised to see you here," the blonde boy explained while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I mean, I've gotten so used to Ruby sitting next to me in these classes that I was kind of expecting her to do that again today. I kind of forgot about how you two switched up your positions in terms of leadership."

"I get it, Jaune. I get it. I doubt all the teachers have gotten used to the idea yet either," the heiress said. "But now that I'm here, could you give me some advice as to what I should do in these classes? Do you have any useful tips from your experience?"

"Not really... The things we discuss during these classes are different pretty much every time. The only thing you really can do is listen," Jaune answered. "Although, if there is one thing you should always fo, it's when we have to make our reports on our teams. To that I can say one thing. Be completely honest."

"Oh, I intend to," Weiss said with a small smirk.

Just as the two students finished their conversation, Glynda walked into the class. The blonde teacher had a small stack of papers with her that she put on her desk. She then turned towards her students and began to speak.

"Good day, team leaders," Glynda greeted. "Today we will be discussing how to properly treat your teammates. Now, most people might think that being a team leader would mean that you get to order those under you around as you like, but the truth is quite far from that. In order to be a good leader, you need to build up a connection with your team, which is done through trust and respect. Those who ignore these are bound to fail."

The blonde witch went on to continue her lecture on the proper treatment of one's team, every now and then stopping to ask questions from her students. These questions ranged from how the students would act in hypothetical situations to what they thought proper treatment meant.

Even though Weiss had come to the class hoping to prove herself, she wasn't fully paying attention to what Glynda was saying. As far as the heiress was concerned, she had been treating her teammates just the way one should, so she didn't see any point in listening all that intently to the lecture.

However, Weiss did perk up when Glynda took the papers she had brought with her and started to hand them to the students. Before the white-haired girl managed to ask what the papers were about, the teacher gave her an answer.

"Alright, it's time to fill out your reports on your teams," Glynda said. "Remember, be absolutely honest with what you write down on these papers, as I will personally look through all of them and address anything that seems important. I believe we all learned what happens when you lie on these things through Mr. Winchester."

Upon being mentioned, Cardin had an embarrassed blush on his face and he grumbled something under his breath, not fond of being reminded of his mistakes. The other students snickered a bit at the bully's expense.

It didn't take long for Weiss to get one of the papers. As soon as she did, the fencer looked through it to get a general idea of the things that she was asked. The paper had a few questions on it, all about the general performance of her team and any possible problems that may have come up. It also had a part where you could request possible help in order to take care of problems in the team, if it was deemed necessary.

The heiress already knew what she was going to write and she had a smile on her face from just thinking about what she could get through this.

_'It's time I show those three who is the leader in our team,'_ Weiss thought to herself while writing her report.

It didn't take long for the white-haired girl and the other students to finish writing their reports, which they then gave back to Glynda. With the final part of their class over, all the students got up and left the classroom.

As she left the room, Weiss couldn't help but keep smiling to herself. She was certain that the report she made was going to bring her great enjoyment.

Little did she know what was truly going to happen.

* * *

A couple of days passed since Weiss' first team leader class and everything seemed to be well for the most part. The four members of team RWBY were going about their days like they normally would and there didn't seem to be any problems. Their new team leader herself was more relaxed than she used to be not too long ago, as she believed her troubles were finally over. However, she was soon going to find out just how wrong she was.

Weiss had been walking down the hallways towards her team's dorm, whistling happily to herself, when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Ruby standing behind her with a blank expression on her face. The heiress couldn't help but wonder what her partner wanted from her.

"Hello, Ruby," Weiss greeted the younger girl. "Is something wrong?"

"...I told you that those reports are taken very seriously, didn't I?" Ruby said. "Why didn't you believe me?"

"I... don't exactly understand what you're-"

"Ms. Schnee!" a very familiar and angry voice called out to the white-haired girl, scaring her. She looked where the sound came from and saw Glynda Goodwitch standing there and looking VERY unhappy. "Would you mind and come with me? There are some things that I need to discuss with you."

The look the teacher was giving the heiress completely terrified her. Weiss could only wonder what she could have possibly done in order to anger Glynda to such an extent.

"See? I told you," Ruby whispered to her partner. "They take the reports VERY seriously."

After giving the younger girl a glare, Weiss walked up to Glynda, who then led her to the teacher's office. Once there, the heiress was told to stand in front of Glynda's desk while she herself sat down.

"Now, Ms. Schnee. Do you have any idea as to why I brought you here?" the blonde witch asked in a serious tone.

"Ummm... I'm not sure," Weiss answered nervously. "M-Might it have something to do with my report from the team leader class?"

"That would be correct," Glynda replied and took out said report from her desk. "Now, were you aware of the fact that I do actually read these and I take them seriously?"

"I have been told that, yes."

"Then you should have also been aware that when I get a report that speaks of some rather serious problems within a team, I personally go and take a look into the situation. In fact, upon reading YOUR report, I not only went to talk to your teammates about the issues you stated in your report, but I also asked for additional information from other teachers and even your other classmates. That is how bad things seemed to be, based on your report, which is why I took such measures."

Weiss was starting to sweat nervously. She didn't have any idea where this was going, but she was certain that it wouldn't be good.

"Do you know what I found out through my investigations?" Glynda asked. "I found out that either the things you said about your teammates were either exaggerated or completely false!"

"B-B-But Professor Goodwitch, I don't understand!" Weiss cried out. "What do you mean by all of that!?"

"Well, how about we take what you said about both Ms. Xiao Long and Ms. Belladonna for an example!?" the teacher asked angrily, picking up her student's report in order to go through it again. "You said in your report that these two members of your team have shown insubordination and complete ungratefulness towards your actions, which have had nothing more than the best of your teammates in your mind! However, upon asking them about this, I found out just what your actions were! From what I heard, all the things that you were supposedly doing for them were actually just there to help your own ego! Despite your students already performing well enough in school, you tried to force them into a study session they didn't want to take part, and completely ignored their feelings and opinions on this and other matters! I should note that Ms. Xiao Long was far more "colorful" upon telling me just how displeased she was with your actions."

"B-B-But this isn't fair!" the heiress yelled. "How am I in the wrong for trying to look after the academical performance of my teammates!? Or for trying to show them some actual culture for once by taking them to an opera!?"

"While those actions themselves aren't bad, the reason you're in the wrong is because of the accusations you made against your teammates!" Glynda yelled back at her student. "Let me remind you that you accused your teammates of insubordination, which is a rather heavy accusation! But the way I see it, YOU are the one who has caused your teammates to act the way they have by ignoring their feelings! This is hardly fitting for a team leader! However, what you said about Ms. Xiao Long and Ms. Belladonna actually pales in comparison to what you said about Ms. Rose, whom you've accused of deliberately causing strain on your team!"

"I- I mean- She-" Weiss tried to speak up in her defense, but realized just how badly she had messed up. Trying to make excuses would most likely only make things worse, so she decided to stay quiet.

"Don't have anymore excuses? That's surprising, considering what you've said about your partner in your report," the blonde said with disgust in her voice. "The fact that you have tried to put the blame of YOUR own shortcomings as a leader on Ms. Rose is honestly repulsive! I actually talked to several teachers, members of the staff and other students in order to find out the truth! You have some nerve trying to put the things you did on your report! What do you have to say for yourself!?"

"...I'm sorry. It won't happen again," the white-haired girl said so quietly it was almost inaudible.

"You got that right. However, I think it's best I personally make sure that you learn your lesson."

* * *

Later that day, the rest of team RWBY got to see what Glynda had meant by making sure that their new team leader would learn her lesson. To say the least, they found it rather amusing.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Yang roared with laughter while staring at Weiss. "Y-YOU LOOK SO FAT IN THAT! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Yeah, just laugh it up, Yang..." Weiss muttered angrily, not liking her current predicament.

"As much as I do find this... amusing, I have to admit that pink looks good on you," Blake said while snickering.

In the end, Weiss had received a rather hefty punishment for her actions. Not only did she get a good amount of detention, but she had also been given a special extra task, which was to clean the school's restrooms for an entire week. Right now, the heiress was dressed up in a white outfit that covered most of her body, but was also very loose, causing her body to look a bit bigger than normal. The outfit also came with a pair of pink rubber boots, pink rubber gloves, a pink bandana to cover her hair and a pink rubber apron. To say the least, Weiss was not happy.

"I told you that your report would be taken seriously," Ruby said with a smirk, causing her partner to fume. "You should be glad that your punishment wasn't any worse than this."

"Ugh... I just hope that this nightmare ends as fast as possible," Weiss grumbled. "Honestly, could this get any worse for me?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure it can!" Yang said with a big grin. "I heard that the cafeteria will be having their menu inspired by food from Vacuo for the week! I hear the food there is rather spicy, so I'm pretty sure you'll be having your hands full of work!"

The white-haired girl simply groaned while dreading the week ahead of her. Her time as a team leader was NOT going as well as she thought.

* * *

**Author's notes: Another chapter done! For this chapter, I thought of the team leaders not only having duties and responsibilities the other students don't have, but also extra classes as well. Since leadership is a pretty big responsibility, one would think that the team leaders in Beacon would be taught about it. Also, I want to add one quick thing regarding these leadership classes. Even though I kind of went through the idea rather quickly in this chapter, there will be more on them later. For this chapter, I wanted to kind of show one side of the classes.**

**I would also like to inform those of you who might be interested that I am currently working on the next chapter for "Notice Me, Ruby!", which I'll try to finish as soon as possible. I have decided to continue that story and bring it to it's conclusion in the future.**

**Hope you liked this chapter and will check out the next one, when it comes out.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	6. A Mistake Too Big

**Leader Change**

**Chapter 6: A Mistake Too Big**

A bit over a week had passed since Weiss had gotten into trouble for her report on her team, which meant that she was currently done with the punishment she had received from Professor Goodwitch. At the moment, the members of team RWBY were in Glynda's combat class, waiting for their turn to get to fight the other students. The students themselves didn't get to choose whether they would get to fight or not, as it was decided by the teacher herself. They could always ask if they could get a chance to show their skills, but the final decision would ultimately be with Glynda. Weiss herself was hoping that her team would get to fight, as that would give her a chance to show her leadership skills.

The match between team JNPR and one of the other first year teams had just ended, when the blonde teacher looked up at team RWBY.

"Alright, I think it's time for team RWBY to show how well they perform under new leadership," Glynda said. "How about you four come down here and fight against team CRDL? That should be a good match."

"Yes! Finally I get to show my skills!" Weiss said to herself in an excited voice, before getting up from her seat and starting to make her way to the arena.

"Just don't try anything too crazy, okay?" Ruby requested from her partner. "After all, no need to take any unnecessary risks."

"Trust me, Ruby. I'll make sure that we'll win this without any flaws," the heiress said confidently.

With the teams down at the arena, they were given a couple of minutes to prepare for a strategy. Since the boys in team CRDL relied more on brute strength than tactics, they were ready for the match almost immediately. However, the members of team RWBY were having some difficulties with their strategy meeting.

"Weiss, I honestly think we should think of a different strategy," Ruby said in a concerned tone. "What you're suggesting is way too risky. It can easily backfire on us."

What was this strategy that the former team leader was protesting? Well, Weiss' plan was for Blake to take on most of team CRDL's members, thus allowing the rest of their team to focus their efforts on Cardin himself. The idea was that while the cat faunus distracted the other three members of CRDL, they could take down the team's leader easily with numbers. This would result in an easy victory, as Cardin was not only the physically strongest member of his team, but also the closest to having any strategical skills. With him out of the way, the rest of the team would be easily defeated.

However, Ruby had a big problem with this plan. Having Blake face three opponents at the same time would put her in great danger. While Weiss said that the raven-haired girl would be able to avoid getting damaged due to her skills and Semblance, the redhead felt that her partner was underestimating team CRDL's members too much. This led to Ruby's other problem with their new leader's plan, which was how they were supposed to deal with Cardin. While they could certainly take on the team leader with three of their members, they would need to do it fast in order to go and support Blake. However, the redhead felt that Cardin wouldn't go down that easily, as his defensive skills were too good for them to be able to defeat him fast enough, thus leaving Blake in danger for too long. Because of this risk, the redhead wanted to change the plan.

Unfortunately for Ruby, her partner's mind wasn't easily changed.

"Ruby, I appreciate your feedback, but I think you are forgetting something important here," Weiss said in a somewhat stern tone. "You seem to forget that I'M the leader now, which means I'M the one who decides what we are going to do in this fight. Besides, I believe you wanted to see me lead a team yourself, so would you mind backing down and letting me do my job?"

The former team leader frowned at the heiress' response, not liking the way she spoke. Hoping to get some support from her other teammates, Ruby turned towards the other two older girls.

"Are you two really fine with this?" the scythe-wielder asked. "I'm sure we can come up with a new plan, if we ask Professor Goodwitch for some more time."

"Well, I'm personally kind of okay with it," Yang said with a shrug. "I mean, I do recognize the dangers that you pointed out, but I'm sure it'll be fine. Besides, this is training. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I'm also willing to go through with this, to be honest," Blake added. "While I know the danger I'll be facing, I should be able to handle it. Not to mention, this is supposed to be about testing Weiss' skills in leadership, right? I think it's for the best to let her call the shots for now and work from there. Not to mention, I also feel that there's no real danger, since it's just training."

"It's not the actual danger that we are facing that's bothering me, but what that danger actually represents!" Ruby said, trying her best to get her teammates to see things her way. "I just can't feel comfortable with such a risky and reckless-"

"Enough, Ruby. You have made your opinion clear," Weiss declared sternly. "However, since I'm the leader, I'll be the one who makes the final decision here, so we are going with my plan. We can talk about this later, understood?"

With their debate over their plan settled, the members of team RWBY started to get themselves ready for the match that was about to begin. However, while most of the team's members were feeling confident, Ruby couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this. She couldn't help but fear that Weiss was making a big mistake.

* * *

Now that both teams were ready, the match could finally start. Team RWBY initiated their plan the way they had agreed, with Blake drawing the attention of most of team CRDL on her, thus leaving Cardin on his own. Now that the other team leader was on his own the rest of team RWBY started to focus their efforts on him, hoping to take down the enemy as fast as possible. All seemed to be going according to plan so far.

However, it didn't take long until problems started to show up. It seemed like Cardin had realized what his enemies were trying to do, but instead of trying to regroup with his teammates, he actually started to focus more on his own defense instead. While he wasn't as skilled as the members of team RWBY, Cardin had still been talented enough to earn his place among Beacon's students and team leaders. The armor-clad boy proved to be quite a difficult foe to take down, once he remained on the defensive, which began to drag out the fight between himself and the three members of team RWBY.

As time went on with Cardin still standing, Ruby became more worried over how Blake was doing. While she, Weiss and Yang were wasting time fighting one opponent, the cat faunus was taking on three all by herself. Those weren't odds that the redhead liked, which caused her to glance towards her third teammate.

Upon turning her gaze towards Blake, Ruby felt her blood freeze. Things had not gone according to plan at all, as Blake was struggling to stand up while being surrounded by the other three members of team CRDL. It was clear that the raven-haired girl wouldn't last long, unless someone went to help her. She was clearly exhausted, bruised and drained out of most of her Aura. Blake needed to be saved now.

Pushing her Semblance to it's maximum potential, Ruby ran towards her struggling teammate, hoping to save her in time. Upon reaching the place Blake was at with the three members of team CRDL, the former team leader caught Sky off-guard by hitting him in the back of the head with the blunt side of her scythe. This was strong enough to knock him out, leaving their enemy team with three members.

However, Ruby wasn't planning on taking down any other opponents at the moment. Instead, she quickly grabbed Blake and used her Semblance again to get her to a safe distance from their enemies.

"R-Ruby..." the cat faunus managed to say while still really exhausted and shocked by the sudden rescue. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't think that-"

"It's okay, Blake," the redhead said calmly. "Just rest up here for a bit and leave the rest to us. You've done your part already, even if it was a horrible part that was given to you by a person who doesn't understand tactics."

Now that her teammate was out of harm's way again, Ruby could focus once again on their enemies. She readied her scythe and started to walk towards Russel and Dove, who were frozen in fear upon seeing the look on the younger student's face.

"You two better be ready. Because I won't be holding even a bit," Ruby said coldly, before charging towards her two opponents.

* * *

After Blake was rescued, the match didn't last much longer from that point on. Both Russel and Dove were quickly defeated by Ruby, who used her superior speed and skills to defeat the two boys. With most of team CRDL down, it didn't take long for the team's leader to get taken out as well, as he faced a whole team on his own, ending the match in team RWBY's victory.

However, despite being victorious, there were two members of team RWBY who were not happy with how things had gone. One of these two was Weiss, who didn't like it how her partner had decided to disobey her commands and act on her own. The other person was Ruby, who was going to make her displeasure very clear to the heiress.

"Ruby! What were you thinking!?" Weiss yelled angrily at the younger girl while stomping towards her. "You disobeyed the orders of your team leader and-"

The rest of the white-haired girl's complaint was cut off by Ruby grabbing her by the front of her shirt and using her Semblance to slam Weiss' back against a wall. The heiress looked at the younger girl's face and was completely terrified by the expression she saw. Ruby looked absolutely furious, to the point even Roman Torchwick would have run away from her.

"Shut your damn mouth, Weiss. I'm not in the mood," the redhead growled. "Do you have ANY idea just how angry I am with you right now? Weren't you paying any attention during the match at all? Or were you too busy thinking about what kind of compliments you would be getting from Professor Goodwitch? Well, I was paying attention, and do you know what I saw? I saw how an incompetent leader put her own teammate at risk, just to protect her own damn ego!"

Every person in the room was watching the argument between the two members of team RWBY in shock, having not expected the former team leader to have a side like this. Even Glynda Goodwitch and the members of team CRDL were surprised by Ruby's behavior, and were now watching as to what would happen next.

"I warned you about your plan! I told you it would put Blake in too much danger, yet you didn't listen! And guess what happened? Exactly what I feared would happen!" Ruby continued to rant angrily. "You might be the leader, Weiss, but your teammates aren't some chess pieces that you can just sacrifice!"

"Whoa there, Rubes!" Yang called out to her sister, hoping that she could calm her down. "I know that the ice queen messed up, but I think you might be overreacting a bit. I mean, her plan didn't go the way it was supposed to at all, but there was no real danger, right? This was just a sparring match, so Blake would have been fine no matter what. Is it really necessary to tear into her like this?"

"It's not what could have happened here that's bothering me! It's what this match has shown me that is truly angering me!" Ruby yelled at her older sister. "A team leader is supposed to look after her subordinates, as their lives are in his or her hands! However, Weiss pretty much sacrificed Blake in order to win! Because of this, I can't trust her as our leader anymore! Who knows when she might do the same thing to somebody else!?"

"N-Now wait just a minute!" Weiss yelled, angered and shocked by the way her partner was accusing her. "You're going way too far here! I would never sacrifice others for my own sake, like the way you're accusing me! Just what gives you the right to say such things about me!?"

Upon hearing the heiress' words, Ruby turned her attention back to her partner. Upon seeing the angry look on the younger girl's face, Weiss began to regret opening her mouth.

"How about you give me proof that I'm wrong?" the scythe-wielder asked in a cold tone that sent chills down the spines of everybody who heard her. "I really hope you do, too. Not just for my sake or the rest of our team, but for your sake as well. Now that you're our leader, the lives of your teammates are your responsibility. If anything goes wrong and one of us gets injured or worse, it will be on your head to carry that burden. Are you ready to live with that? I seriously doubt you are."

After giving her warning, Ruby let go of her partner and left the classroom, being too upset to stay near the heiress for any longer. Other students that the redhead walked past on her way out stepped away from the younger student, afraid of getting attacked by her as well.

Once Ruby had left, silence fell over the classroom. Weiss' face was pale and her body was shaking a bit, as she was still in shock over what had happened. Never had she ever imagined that her partner could have a side like this to her. It was honestly a scary thing to witness, let alone to be the one who had angered the former team leader in the first place.

"Ms. Schnee?" Glynda Goodwitch called out to her student, breaking the silence in the room. "While she might have been a bit extreme, you should honestly think about what Ms. Rose just said to you. I was watching your match against team CRDL and I saw what you were trying to do with your plan. While there was somewhat of an idea there, it was honestly way too risky. If this had been an actual battle, I fear what might have happened to Ms. Belladonna."

"Yeah, I kind of have to agree with both the teacher and the kid," Cardin added, surprising everyone. "I know I'm not all that smart, but even I saw through what you guys were trying to do. Once I had figured that out, I knew that I should just turtle up and focus on my defense, so my teammates could take out Blake, whom you had pretty much abandoned. Once they were done with her, we could have taken the rest of your team with all of our members. I might not be one for strategy, but even I wouldn't sacrifice my own teammates the way you did."

All Weiss could do was stare at the brown-haired bully with wide eyes. The idea that she would hear such words from Cardin of all people had never even crossed her mind.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Cardin," Yang said. "What you did was honestly pretty bad. Had this been a serious battle, we could have lost one of our members."

"Now wait just a damn second!" Weiss yelled at the blonde girl. "When I made the plan, you didn't voice ANY complaints at all! How the hell can you just start making complaints now!?"

"That's because we trusted your judgement, Weiss," Blake said. "The two of us aren't really all that great when it comes to strategy, so we went with what you said. Not to mention, you did tell us that there was nothing to worry about and that we would win easily. It's your duty as a leader to make the decisions that are for the best of your team, and make sure that your subordinates get through battles as safely as possible."

"But... But you can't just pin all of the blame on me!" the heiress tried to argue. "We are a team! Some of the responsibility falls on your shoulders as well!"

"And we did fulfill our responsibilities, didn't we? We followed your orders, like we were supposed to," Yang said. "However, you failed to notice how Blake was struggling and needed help. Instead of looking after your team, Ruby had to do it. It was honestly thanks to her that we got out of this match the way we did."

Weiss tried to defend herself, to find some sort of an argument to save herself. Yet no matter how much she tried, she couldn't think of anything. The fencer knew that it was ultimately her fault that Blake had been put into danger and that their team could have lost the match. There was no denying that.

As the class came to an end and everyone left, Weiss couldn't help but think about what had just happened, specifically the mistakes she did as a leader. No matter how much she tried to push it out of her mind, the heiress couldn't help but think about the match they had with team CRDL, except this time it was an actual battle. The thought of one of her teammates ending up dead because of an error in her judgement brought chills down her spine. If something like that were to happen, it would be her responsibility. And if that were to happen, could Weiss be able to live with it?

For the first time in her life, the white-haired girl had to seriously question her abilities. For the first time, she asked herself one simple question. Was she really qualified to be a leader?

* * *

**Author's notes: Before anyone says anything about this chapter not being funny, I'll say one thing right away. This chapter wasn't meant to be funny. This chapter is essentially where Weiss' mistakes go too far, causing her to question her own capabilities on being a leader. The next chapter will also have a similar tone, as it's about Weiss trying to find out what it actually means to be a leader.**

**I've been thinking about focusing most of my writing on this story for now, as it's almost finished. This was always meant to be a relatively short story, so I feel it could be a good way for me to clear up some of my work, so I may move on to other things. I'll still be working on my other stories, but my focus will be on this one.**

**Also, just had my birthday recently... The most awful day in the year for me...**

**Anyways, until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	7. Leader's Duty

**Leader Change**

**Chapter 7: Leader's Duty**

It had been two days since team RWBY had their first practice match under Weiss' leadership. During that time, the heiress had been constantly thinking about what had happened that day. She was still thinking about what could have happened, if it had been a real fight her team had been in, and what the results could have led to. The thought that one of her teammates would have gotten hurt or even worse due to her lack of proper leadership skills made Weiss feel sick. Images of her wounded and bloodied teammates kept appearing in her mind, along with faces of their families and friends, who had been told about what had happened to their loved ones under the fencer's command.

Thinking about all of this made Weiss feel like she was carrying a huge weight on her shoulders, like a boulder chained to her back. Along with that, she felt a cold pain in the pit of her stomach. The white-haired girl honestly felt like throwing up, as these feelings just got stronger the more she thought about what could possibly happen, if she were to fail as a leader again.

_'Just what is this that I'm feeling? Am I... scared to be a leader?' _Weiss thought to herself, before she shook her head furiously, hoping to rid herself of such thoughts. _'No! NO! I am NOT scared! I am the heiress of the Schnee family! I was born to be a leader! I just made a mistake and that's just messing with me! I can get over it!'_

Despite what she had said to herself, the fencer couldn't help but doubt her own words. She was going to need something else to convince herself that she could handle her new position. Luckily, Weiss spotted Jaune nearby, heading towards the library to most likely study with his team. The heiress felt that talking to a fellow team leader could possibly help clear her doubts about herself.

"Hey Jaune," Weiss greeted the blonde boy, who turned to look at her. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Oh! Hi Weiss!" Jaune greeted the white-haired girl in return. "Sure, I can talk for a moment, but not for too long. I kind of agreed to have a study session with my team. What do you want to talk about?"

"It's something very important, but I'm sure it's going to sound weird," the heiress explained, before taking a deep breath to compose herself. "Jaune, do you... want to be the leader of your team?"

"...Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Do you want to be the team leader?" Weiss asked again, this time with a bit of an annoyed tone in her voice from having to repeat herself. "Ever since you were made the leader of your team, have you ever had second thoughts about it? Like, have you ever wanted to quit your position and give it to someone else?"

"Huh!? What are you talking about!? Of course not!" Jaune answered with a laugh. "Being a team leader is awesome! Why would I ever want to quit my position!?"

At first, Weiss was angered by the blonde knight's response, as she had been very serious with her question, and Jaune's answer seemed like he was making fun of her. However, upon a closer inspection, the heiress noticed something. It seemed like her fellow team leader was trying to hide something. Jaune wasn't looking at her while he was laughing and said laughter sounded rather fake. Not to mention, Weiss could also see a bit of sweat falling down the side of the boy's face.

"Jaune, what are you hiding from me?" the fencer asked in a serious tone. "Why are you faking laughter in front of me?"

Upon being called out on his bad acting, the blonde knight immediately stopped his laughter. He took a deep sigh, before answering.

"I just don't want to show how weak I am," Jaune answered with a heavy tone, which surprised Weiss. The way the blonde boy's voice sounded made it feel like the world was going to end. "The truth is that I... don't want to be a team leader. I just wanted to become a Huntsman and not a leader of Huntsmen."

"Why? Why wouldn't you want to be a leader?" Weiss asked. "I mean, don't you enjoy the benefits of being a team leader?"

"If there was something to enjoy with being a leader, I haven't seen it," the blonde knight said in a bitter tone. "In all honesty, the position of a leader is more of a burden than anything else."

Jaune looked through the library's entrance and saw his teammates sitting around a table, talking with each other with smiles on their faces. A small sad smile made it's way to the blonde boy's face, as he watched his teammates enjoying each others company, unaware of their leader watching them.

"I'm honestly glad I came to Beacon. Not only have I been able to grow stronger and follow my dream, I also feel like I belong somewhere for the first time in my life, along with making many wonderful friends," Jaune explained with a smile, before a look of anguish came over his face. "However, if there is one thing I regret about coming here, it's the fact that I was made into the leader of my team. This position that was given me has been nothing more than a source of torment for me ever since I got it. I almost want to punch Professor Ozpin for putting this on me."

"I-It can't be that bad, right?" Weiss asked nervously, hoping that her friend was simply overreacting. "Surely there must be something good about it!"

"It is that bad, if not worse, Weiss," the blonde boy replied. "Many think that all there is to being a team leader is to give orders and take in the glory for successful jobs, but that's as far away from the truth as it can be. The one thing team leaders need to do is look after their teammates. The leaders are the ones responsible for their lives and have to make sure that they get back home alive. Just the idea that I would have to explain any of my teammates' families how they died is enough to make me want to cry."

The heiress was shocked to see the look on Jaune's face that was a mixture of sadness, anguish and fear. She could even see tears behind the team leader's eyes.

"Come on, Jaune! You have to be exaggerating!" Weiss said nervously, although she was mostly trying to convince herself. "I mean, we might face dangerous monsters, but that's why we are training here! Besides, we aren't put against anything that would really pose a threat to us!"

"Even if we are supposed to face Grimm that we are supposed to be able to take on, things can still go horribly wrong. Even a simple training mission can turn into a nightmare through a mistake or something unexpected happening," Jaune said. "During one of our team leader classes, we actually met a former Huntsman that had been the leader of his team. He told us how he made on mistake on a mission and it cost him the lives of his whole team. The look he had on his face is something I'll remember for the rest of my life, as it will haunt my dreams."

Weiss could feel her heart stop for a moment, as the idea of her losing her teammates due to a single mistake in her judgement crossed her mind. If that were to happen, the heiress had no idea if she could ever live with the guilt from that.

"I'm honestly scared over what might happen in whatever next mission my team goes to," Jaune continued. "I can't help but fear that I might lose my team, because of something stupid I do. I have lost count of the nights I've been unable to get any sleep from simply worrying over what the future might bring. If I could, I would gladly let someone else take the place of team leader, so I wouldn't have to carry this burden anymore."

"Then... why don't you simply ask one of your teammates to take over?" Weiss asked. "If my team could have it's leader changed, I'm sure it could be done with your team as well."

For a moment, the blonde knight looked down in thought, before looking at his teammates again.

"Because I don't want to put this burden on them. They have given me so much that I honestly can't do that to any of them, so I've decided to carry it myself," Jaune answered. He then started to make his way to his team. "I'm sorry, Weiss, but I feel like I should go to my team now. I did promise them that I would take part in our study session, after all."

The heiress gave a nod and watched as the blonde boy joined his team in the library. However, there was still a question she needed an answer for. If being a team leader was truly such a burden, how could one carry it? What could she do to get over the fear of failing her duties?

* * *

After her talk with Jaune, Weiss had thought about who she could go ask for advice one being a team leader. The problem was that while she had come to know a good amount of people since she came to Beacon, the white-haired girl couldn't really talk to most of them about her problem. The reason for this was that she needed someone who actually had experience with what she was going through right now, which meant that she needed to talk to another team leader. Unfortunately, there weren't that many team leaders she knew personally, which limited Weiss' options greatly. She had already talked to Jaune, she would rather die than to talk to Cardin and the heiress doubted that Sun would be of any real use. It was especially difficult as Weiss needed someone more experienced to talk to, as she felt that a person like that could help her.

Luckily, the white-haired girl knew one person that perfectly fit her criteria. Unfortunately, their advice wasn't exactly what she had been looking for.

"You just need to suck it up. There's nothing else you can do with that problem of yours," Coco answered the younger girl's question.

"...E-Excuse me?" Weiss asked, hoping that the older girl was joking.

"You heard me. There's really nothing you can do about the pressure and fear of messing up as a team leader. All you can do is try and live with it," the fashionista stated. "That job is something you're supposed to carry, after all. You shouldn't try to dump any of it's weight on your teammates."

"B-B-But surely there has to be something I can do!" the heiress said desperately. "You have no idea how bad all this pressure is that I'm feeling! I need something to make it feel at least a bit better!"

"First of all, don't say that I have no idea about how you feel. I've been doing this gig a lot longer than you have," Coco said in a slightly angered tone, not liking what the younger girl had just said. "Second, if there really was something us team leaders could do, don't you think we would have done it already? I'm certain that if that was true, most of the students who quit Beacon wouldn't be team leaders."

"Team leaders are quitting Beacon?" Weiss asked, disturbed by this new piece of information.

"Well, not team leaders specifically. A good amount of students can't handle the pressure and end up quitting Beacon and decide to live as civilians," the older team leader explained. "However, when you look at the people that quit, you'll find out that over half of them were team leaders. It makes sense, since team leaders have to handle a lot more pressure than other students."

"So... What you're saying is that my options are to either quit or to simply live with it?" the white-haired girl said. "Those aren't exactly great options."

"That's life for you, I'm afraid. We don't always get any good choices and have to choose only from a bunch of bad ones. It's your job to decide which one is the least bad for you," Coco said with a shrug. "But if you want my advice, I think you should just give Ruby her position back. You haven't exactly been able to handle being a leader, so I feel it might be for the best to at least stop before things get too bad."

After giving her advice, the brunette started to leave. Before she managed to completely leave, Weiss still had one more question.

"Why should anyone be a team leader? If all this position gives you is just more work and pressure that is unbearable to handle, why would anyone want to take this job?" the heiress asked. "I know there are some positive sides to this, but they can't really make it worth all this. So why even have team leaders in the first place?"

"Because somebody has to do it. There needs to be someone there to look after the well-being of a team and to shoulder the responsibility the other team members can't," Coco answered. "There always needs to be someone who can look after everybody, even if it's a tough job. They just need to learn how to live with the pressure and responsibility."

* * *

Once her talk with Coco had been finished, Weiss was left alone to think about what she had just learned. In all honesty, her whole world had essentially just been turned upside down. For as long as the heiress could remember, her whole life had been about pursuing whatever was the highest. Whether it was the highest score in a test or the highest possible position for her, Weiss had always done everything she could to achieve it. However, now she was facing something that she had never thought of before. The white-haired girl didn't want the highest position in her team.

After having talked with both Jaune and Coco, Weiss had a different view on the position of a team leader. What had first seemed to be a honor and a glory that was only reserved for the best like herself, now seemed like nothing more than a burden that some were forced to carry. Right now, the fencer was facing an internal struggle between what she had been conditioned into wanting and how she had truly started to feel.

"If it's such a heavy burden, do I really want to carry it?" Weiss asked herself while sitting on a bench that was in the front yard of Beacon. "Not only that, but if I were to choose to carry it, would I be able to?"

"Well, I personally didn't choose you to be a team leader, as I didn't think you would be able to handle it," a familiar voice suddenly said, snapping the heiress out of her thoughts. She looked up and saw Ozpin looking down on her with a cup of coffee in his hand. "However, I have been proven wrong before, so if you believe you can do so this time, I urge you to do it."

"P-Professor Ozpin! I didn't notice you there!" Weiss said with a blush on her face, embarrassed over being caught talking to herself. "Ummm... How much did you hear?"

"Only the last part, but I'm pretty sure I can guess what it was about," the silver-haired man answered and took a sip from his drink. "Now, would you like to talk to me about your problem or do you want to think about it on your own some more?"

"Actually, there is something I would like to ask you," the white-haired girl replied. "I can't help but wonder about one thing. Why did you choose Ruby as our team's leader? I'm not trying to say that she shouldn't be the leader or that there was a better candidate for the job. I just want to know what qualities she had that made her a better leader than anyone else in our team. I mean, she is even younger than any of us, so didn't you have any doubts about your choice?"

"It is true that Ms. Rose is younger than any other students in our school, but I have learned a long time ago that age isn't what makes a good leader," Ozpin began to explain. "As for why I made her the leader of your team, she was simply the best candidate for it in my opinion. When I watched her lead you all against that Nevermore and the Deathstalker, she honestly reminded me of someone. A student that used to be here that became one of my most trusted friends with time. The way I saw Ms. Rose act during the initiation reminded me so much of that student that I immediately knew she would become a great Huntress. She has the same potential and qualities that my students used to have back in the day."

"So if she hadn't acted the way she did during the initiation, you would have chosen someone else as our leader?" Weiss asked.

"Not necessarily. It would have surely made me think harder on my decision, but I feel that I would have chosen Ms. Rose as the team leader regardless, as she is the best qualified for it," the headmaster answered. "Even before she joined Beacon, I had been hearing a lot about how skilled she was, which made me look through her files. After I read through what kind of a life she had been through, I knew that she was a very gifted individual that could very well become one of the best Huntresses in the world."

"What about the rest of our team?"

"You are all obviously skilled and have great futures ahead of you, but I couldn't see any of you having the skills necessary to be a leader. Ms. Xiao Long is obviously too hotheaded and not much of a thinker. If she were to lead a team, I fear they would run headfirst into danger. On the other hand, Ms. Belladonna might seem like a good choice, but she unfortunately hides things from others. When a team leader can't trust their own subordinates, the team is going to fall apart. And as for you, Ms. Schnee-"

"Let me guess. I am a spoiled little girl that expects everything to be handed over to me?"

"Well, there is that, but it isn't the real reason you wouldn't be chosen as a leader," Ozpin replied, surprising Weiss. "The real reason I wouldn't make you a leader is because you are too concerned with proving yourself. I believe we saw it best during your sparring match against team CRDL, when you refused to listen to Ms. Rose. You were so set on showing everyone that you could come up with a winning strategy on your own that you refused to let any other opinions to question your decision. Whatever was going to bring your team victory had to have come from you or you wouldn't see yourself as the leader you have always imagined yourself as. Because of this, you rushed into battle with a badly thought strategy, just so you could prove yourself."

As much as she wanted to, the newly-appointed team leader couldn't defend herself, since the silver-haired man was completely right. She had wanted to show her skills by coming up with their winning strategy on her own, which was why she didn't listen to Ruby's warnings at all. This led to Blake being put in danger during their match against team CRDL, and their whole team facing possible defeat.

"Since I'm unfit to be a team leader in your opinion, what do you think I should do?" Weiss asked. "What is the best thing to do, not just for my sake, but for the sake of my team as well?"

"I fear that is something you must think of yourself," Ozpin answered. "However, the way I see it, you have two options. The first one is for you to stay as team leader and hopefully learn how to fulfill your duties properly. After all, people can change for the better. The second option is for you to admit your faults and let Ms. Rose be your team leader again. Whatever you choose, just know that I will accept and support it. And I'm certain Ms. Rose will do so as well."

* * *

Back in team RWBY's dorm, the three other members of the team were spending their free time on whatever hobbies they liked. Yang was sitting on her bed and playing a game on her Scroll, Blake was reading one of her books, and Ruby was watching a movie on her Scroll.

Suddenly, the door to the dorm opened and Weiss walked in. The white-haired girl's three teammates immediately turned their attention towards their teammate. Much to their surprise, their new team leader seemed to be bothered by something, as she had a bit of a saddened look on her face.

"Weiss?" Ruby called out to her partner. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's really wrong. I've just had a lot of on my mind today. However, I do need to talk with you, Ruby," the heiress replied, before looking at her other two teammate. "And I kind of need to talk with her alone."

Blake and Yang looked at each other, before looking at Ruby, who simply shrugged. However, since the two girls had seen the look on Weiss' face, they assumed that their two teammates needed this, so they left the dorm.

Now that Ruby and Weiss were alone, the younger girl jumped off her bed and walked up to her partner, wondering what she wanted to talk about.

"So, Weiss, what did you need to talk about?" Ruby asked.

"Well... it's about me being our team leader," the fencer replied. "You see, I've been thinking about how I've performed as our leader, which led to me asking about some of the things that come with the job. That in turn taught me a lot about all the things I'm supposed to do, the things YOU had to go through while you were being our leader. And in the end, I think I've come to realize some things."

"And what would those things that you have realized be?" the redhead asked.

"First, I have to admit that I'm not fit to be a leader," Weiss answered in a defeated tone. "I'm too focused on being the best that I am unable to see what's truly important, like the needs of my teammates. And that's simply unacceptable for a leader. Second, I need to fix this mess that I've caused, and the way I do that is by giving the position of team leader to the person who truly deserves it. That person is you, Ruby. So could you become the leader of team RWBY again for the sake of us all?"

After asking her partner to become the team leader again, the heiress had expected the younger girl to say "yes" with a big smile on her face. Instead, Ruby gave an answer that she had NOT expected.

"No."

* * *

**Author's notes: As you most likely have already figured out, this chapter was also meant to be serious, like the previous one. In this chapter, I wanted Weiss to start thinking about what it truly means to be a leader and what the position carries along with it. We might often think that being a leader would be a great thing, without understanding everything that comes along with it.**

**I might have been somewhat rushing this chapter, because I really want to get this story finished, so I can move on to other stuff. I hope it didn't affect this chapter badly.**

**Anyways, next chapter will be about why Ruby doesn't want to take up the position of team RWBY's leader. Hope you guys check it out when it comes out.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	8. Ruby's Choice

**Leader Change**

**Chapter 8: Ruby's Choice**

Weiss stared at Ruby with her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open from shock. She had just admitted to her partner that she was unfit to be their team leader and that Ruby should take over the team leader position once again. This was something the heiress had thought that the redhead wanted to hear all along. After all, it had been Ruby who had suggested the whole switch, saying that Weiss didn't know what she had to go through. Now that she fully understood what it was like to be a team leader through the hard way, the white-haired girl had been certain that her partner would happily to take back her position.

However, that had NOT happened. Instead of taking over as team RWBY's leader once again, Ruby had simply refused her partner's plea. The way the scythe-wielder even said it spoke volumes of how serious she was about this. There had been absolutely no hesitation in her voice at all or even a hint of this being a prank of some kind. As far as Weiss knew, Ruby Rose was refusing to be the team leader of team RWBY.

"W-What!?" Weiss yelled in shock and slight anger. "What do you mean "no"!? How can you just refuse the position that is rightfully yours!? I even admitted that I can't carry the burden of being a leader myself! What more do you want from me!?"

"It's not that I want something more. I actually want something less," Ruby explained. "Didn't you just tell me that you have learned about all the burdens that come with being a leader or did I misunderstand you? Now tell me, why do you think that I would want to carry those burdens again? Especially when I'm already dealing with more than enough, even without being a team leader?"

"What do you mean?" the heiress asked, wondering what the younger girl was talking about.

"Even without having to carry the burden of being a team leader, I already have to deal with a lot of things YOU can't even imagine," the redhead answered. "How about we start with my age? Do you have any idea how hard it is to literally be the youngest student in our entire school? I might have thought that getting accepted to Beacon early would be great, but if I had known what it would cause, I would have refused Ozpin's offer immediately."

"You would have refused getting to Beacon early?" Weiss asked with wide eyes. "Why?"

"Thanks to me being younger than anyone else, I constantly feel isolated by everyone around me," Ruby explained. "I have lost count of all the times I heard people whispering behind my back about how I got accepted early. Some say I bribed the teachers in some way, others claim that Ozpin is losing his mind and so on. No one is willing to believe that I got accepted because of my skills, like it's somehow criminal to even think that way."

The heiress felt her blood run cold upon hearing about what the younger girl had to go through, especially when she herself had often looked down on her partner for her age. She had never imagined what Ruby must have been going through, simply for being skilled enough to be accepted early to Beacon.

"R-Ruby... I had no idea-"

"And it's worse with my own team," the scythe-wielder continued, causing her partner to let out a shocked gasp. "Do you have any idea how many times I've been left behind for "being too young"? Or how many times my opinions haven't been taken seriously, as I'm "just a kid"? You might think that those don't hurt, but believe me when I say they do. They hurt A LOT."

"Ruby... We didn't know..."

"And how about the other problems that come from being accepted early?" Ruby asked. "Did you know or even bother to think that getting accepted early has caused a lot of work to pile on top of me? How I have to take extra classes to make up for the two years I skipped? I might not have told any of you about them, but none of you seemed to bother to find out. Even if I had told you about them, I wonder if you had believed me? After all, you often say that I'm "just a kid", don't you?"

Weiss felt her body start to shiver. Her guilt made her feel like she was starting to freeze, not to mention the tone of Ruby's voice. At the start, the redhead had sounded like herself at least somewhat, but now she sounded completely emotionless. Just how much had Ruby been hurting all this time? And how much were her teammates responsible for her pain, especially her own partner?

"Ruby, please...! I couldn't have-"

"And this isn't even counting how I have to struggle ALL THE TIME during our classes. Not only do I have to work extra hard in order to keep up with students that have more experience than I do, but I have to make sure that my scores are among the top of the class. Otherwise, everyone will just say that I didn't deserve to get accepted early," the redhead continued with her rant. "With all this already on my shoulders, you're asking me to take on the burdens of leadership? Do you really have any idea what those feel like?"

The heiress stared Ruby in the eyes and gave a small nod, not able to say anything thanks to her guilt having taken away her will to speak.

"Really? You mean to tell me that you actually understand what it feels like to carry on your shoulders the lives of your teammates? I don't think you truly do," the scythe-wielder stated with a raised eyebrow. "Did you know that during one of our leadership classes we actually had a former team leader come an speak to us? He told us how he made one single mistake and it cost him the lives of his teammates."

Weiss' eyes went wide upon recognizing this story. It was the same one Jaune had told her.

"That man told us how his mistake cost him so dearly that he was unable to continue as a Huntsman anymore. He said how he nowadays lives in nothing but constant regret of what happened, wishing that he could either somehow turn back time or that his life would just end," Ruby said. "After hearing something like that, do you think that I would want to continue as a leader anymore? There are nights I can't sleep and I just cry to myself for what might happen. I feel helpless and alone. Meanwhile, my three teammates go on happily with their lives, while treating me like I was just some lost child."

Tears were starting to fall from the white-haired girl's eyes as she started to imagine everything the redhead was going through. To be so alone and helpless, while carrying such heavy burdens on your shoulders. It was a miracle that Ruby had made it this far without breaking down.

"Why... didn't you tell us anything?" Weiss asked weakly. "If we had known, I'm sure we could have helped. Even if it was just a little bit."

"Not only do I doubt that you would have believed me, but it would have also just proven everyone's suspicions of me," Ruby answered. "If I had broken down and started telling about how hard everything was for me, what kind of a message would that give to all the people that didn't think I deserved to be here? They would see me as weak and unfit to be here, which would only cause them to increase all their harassment on me in the hopes of me quitting. I may regret coming here early, but I am still determined to be a Huntress, and I will walk down the path I've chosen for myself. Not to mention, if I showed weakness and all the people doubting me would just harass me more, I feared that it would end up affecting my team as well. A leader needs to be strong not just for herself, but for her teammates, too."

Weiss felt like crying. Never before had she felt so bad in her entire life. Out of all the wrong things she had done, this had to be the worst. To look down on her partner simply because of her age and feeling like she deserved something that not only wasn't rightfully hers, but also something she couldn't handle, the heiress had effectively betrayed the first and best true friend she had ever made in her life.

"Ruby... please... I beg you," Weiss pleaded as her tears were falling to the floor and she had to hold back her sobs. "I know what I've done to you is unforgivable, but I swear that I never meant to do any of it! Even if you can't find it in your heart to forgive me, can't you still take over as our team leader? We truly need you, as no one else can lead team RWBY but you! Can't you take on the duty of team leader again for our sake?"

After the white-haired girl had begged for her partner to change her mind, Ruby walked up to the older girl. She then leaned a bit closer, so she could whisper into her ear.

"After being finally freed from at least some of my burdens, do you really think I want to take them back?" the redhead whispered. "I honestly should thank you for that day, when you said that you didn't know what being a leader was like. For a long time, I've been wondering if there was a way out for me and you gave it to me. Now that I finally have what I want, I am not going back. Enjoy your new position, honorable Ms. Schnee."

Once she had given her answer, Ruby walked past her partner and headed towards the door. However, she wasn't able to go far, until something stopped her. A pair of arms were wrapped around her body, holding her in place, while their owner had buried their face to the former team leader's back and were sobbing.

"Ruby please! You can't do this!" Weiss managed to say while crying. "I know that you don't want to take up the burden of being a leader again, but there really is no one else here for the job! I may not deserve to have you as my leader or partner or even as my friend, but I beg of you to at least consider it! If not for me, then do it for Blake and Yang! They deserve a better team than one led by me! They deserve a leader that actually looks out for them, like a leader should! Please be that leader!"

For a moment, silence fell over the room, broken only by the heiress' sobs. Weiss didn't know what Ruby was thinking, but she prayed in her mind that the younger girl was at least considering taking over as the leader again.

Suddenly, the white-haired girl heard the sound of something wet falling to the floor. She looked up and saw Ruby looking back at her with tears in her eyes.

"That's unfair... using Blake and Yang like that," the scythe-wielder said in a broken voice. "Fine. You win. I'll be the leader of team RWBY again."

Weiss pulled her partner in an even tighter hug, as the two girls were now both crying. However, while the older girl was crying tears of relief and joy, the younger one was crying out of sadness, as she was going to once again carry a heavy burden that would crush her.

However, little did Ruby know that things would be different.

* * *

**Author's notes: Yeah, this chapter became quite short, as I wanted to focus just on Ruby and her reasons for not wanting to be a leader. Especially on all the burdens she has to go through on top of being a leader.**

**Anyways, there is still going to be one more chapter to this story, which is going to be the epilogue. After that, this story will be finished.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


	9. Epilogue

**Leader Change**

**Chapter 9: Epilogue**

It had been about a week since Weiss had managed to convince Ruby to take back the position of team RWBY's leader and things had returned to normal. With the team's original leader now back in place, there were no more fights between the team's members and they were working a lot better together again. Both Blake and Yang had been very happy to hear that Ruby was going to be their leader once again, as they felt the younger girl was honestly the best person for the job.

However, even if her teammates were happy, Ruby herself wasn't. She was once again carrying the burden of being a team leader along with all of her other problems. Some of the other students had even started making rumors about how the scythe-wielder had become team leader again. Some said that she had threatened Weiss, while others claimed that she had bribed Ozpin into letting her be a team leader again. Whatever nasty rumors were going on about her, Ruby didn't care. She had become too used to hearing such things being said about her that she simply couldn't get worked up about them anymore.

Right now, the young team leader was heading towards her team's dorm on her own. She didn't know where her teammates were, but she assumed that they must have gone to Vale without their youngest teammate once again. If Ruby were to guess, Yang probably found a new club again and wanted to show it to her more "mature" teammates.

Despite disliking being left behind like this, the redhead couldn't get worked up about it. Much like a lot of other things she had to deal with, she had gotten used to it, even if it was painful. Not to mention, Ruby knew she was already greatly disliked by a lot of the other students in the school, so she would rather avoid getting on the bad side of her own team as well.

As she was walking, Ruby suddenly noticed a familiar person ahead. It was Jaune, who seemed to be looking for something or someone. Knowing that her fellow team leader quite often needed help, the redhead decided to walk up to the blonde boy and see what was going on with him.

"Hi Jaune," Ruby greeted the blonde knight. "Did you lose something? You look like you're searching for something."

"Well, it's not exactly like that," Jaune answered. "I'm just looking for my teammates. After the classes ended, I lost sight of them and haven't seen them anywhere. Have you seen any of my teammates?"

"I'm afraid I haven't. In fact, I haven't even seen my teammates for some time now either," the scythe-wielder explained. "I'm pretty sure that Pyrrha and the others are here somewhere. You just need to go someplace where they can often be found."

"That's kind of the problem, actually. I've already looked around all the places I could think of and haven't found anything. I've even tried calling them on their Scrolls, but they're not answering," the blonde boy said. "And to make things even more strange, the only people I've seen are team leaders, like us. It's almost like every student here that wasn't the leader of a team suddenly disappeared."

"That is strange..." Ruby said thoughtfully, wondering what could have caused such a thing to happen. "I can somewhat understand not seeing my teammates around, but not seeing the teammates of any other leader? Now that I cannot explain at all."

"Do you think we should look for one of the professors? Maybe they know what's going on."

"I'm not sure. While this is certainly odd, I don't think we should be getting worried yet. I'm sure that if we wait in our dorms, our teammates will most likely return soon."

"I guess you're right. I'm still going to look around a bit, though. Maybe I can find them somewhere."

"Alright. Good luck on your search."

The two team leaders went their separate paths with Ruby heading to her team's dorm, while Jaune went to look around for his missing team. The blonde boy decided to head towards the library, thinking that he might find one of his teammates there this time.

However, the knight didn't make it far, until something tackled him to the ground. Once he had managed to get over the shock from the sudden impact, Jaune found out that the thing that had hit him and was now latched onto him was none other than Nora, who seemed to be crying.

Before the team leader managed to ask what had gotten his ginger teammate so upset, he heard two more people rushing towards him. He looked up and saw the rest of his teammates heading towards him, looking very upset as well. While Ren managed to simply look saddened, Pyrrha actually tears running down her face.

"Jaune... we need to talk," the amazon managed to say while holding back her tears.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ruby was close to reaching her team's dorm, completely unaware of what was going on with her fellow team leader. She reached the door and began to pull out her Scroll in order to open the lock, when she heard someone running towards her. The young team leader barely managed to turn around, before a familiar blonde figure had crashed into her, swooping her up from the ground into a tight bearhug.

After she managed to clear her head from the daze that came from the sudden collision, Ruby realized that Yang was acting rather strangely. Not only had there been no overly-happy greeting from her elder sister before she had been pulled into the hug, but the hug itself felt strange. While Yang's hugs often felt friendly and playful, this felt more desperate, like the brawler was afraid of letting go of her little sister. To make things even more odd, Yang had her face pressed against Ruby's shoulder, and judging from the wet feeling that came to that area, the redhead realized that her sister was crying.

"Yang? Is something wrong?" Ruby asked, wondering what might have happened to her sister to make her act like this.

"Something wrong? SOMETHING WRONG!?" Yang repeated with the volume of her voice increasing. She pulled her face away from her sister's shoulder in order to stare Ruby in the eyes, showing the younger girl her tear-covered face. "How about YOU tell me if something's wrong!? You've been going through such horrible things, yet you never said anything to me! Do you have any idea how that feels!? Why didn't you say anything!?"

Ruby was too taken aback by how her sister was acting to muster up any kind of a response to her question. Not only that, but she didn't know what the blonde was actually talking about even.

While the young team leader was trying to make sense of what was going on, she felt a hand place itself on her shoulder. Ruby looked behind her and saw Blake standing there, staring at her with a sad look on her face.

"Ruby, I can understand that it can be hard to talk to us about your problems, especially when we have been a part of them, but you should know that we are here to help you," the cat faunus said. "It might not seem like that, but we consider you our friend and we will always support you. So why don't you lighten some of your burdens by relying on us?"

"W-What are you two talking about?" the young team leader asked as she kept looking at her two teammates in confusion.

"Ruby, I... told them everything," Weiss suddenly said, making her presence known to her partner. The heiress had a bit of an ashamed look on her face, as she walked up to her teammates. "Not just about what it's like to be a leader, but also about all the things you have to go through. Not to mention, the things we have been putting you through."

"You did what?" Ruby asked while staring at her partner with wide eyes.

"She told us about all the burdens you have to go through as a team leader, along with how hard it can be with you," Blake explained. "She didn't just tell about it to us, but to all the students here that aren't team leaders. For the past week, Weiss had been organizing an event where she was going to tell all of Beacon's students that weren't team leaders about the burdens people in your position have to face."

"She told us how we were taking our team leaders for granted and how we should be thankful for you all! She also told us about how unfairly you were being treated by everyone around you!" Yang said while still crying and holding onto her little sister for dear life. "Why didn't you ever say anything, Rubes!? If I had known, I could have helped out! I could have done something for you, instead of just making things worse! I could have... I COULD HAVE AVOIDED BEING A FAILURE AS A BIG SISTER!"

While Ruby was doing her best to comfort her sister and telling her that she wasn't a "failure", Weiss decided to go to her partner and hug her as well. Upon getting such affection from the heiress, Ruby turned to look at Weiss with a surprised look on her face.

"Ruby, I'm truly sorry about everything you have to go through, but I still want you to remain as our team leader. We need you far more than you know," Weiss said. "However, that doesn't mean things can go on the way they had been until now. You've taken up way too much on yourself. Far more than a single person should carry."

"W-What are you saying?" Ruby asked, wondering just what her partner was talking about.

"What I'm saying is that from now on you have to share some of your burdens with us," the white-haired girl answered. "I know that we can't truly take the pain away or lighten the weight you're under all that much, but we can still support you. Whenever you feel like you're breaking down or need someone there for you, I want you to come to one of us. As of this moment, we will always be there to help you, comfort you and show you that you're not alone. We are your team, Ruby, and we will always be there for you to help you, no matter what."

Ruby's eyes were as wide as possible from Weiss' declaration. She looked at both Blake and Yang, who gave her looks that told her they were completely serious. The young team leader's teammates would help her carry her burdens from now on.

It didn't take long until Ruby broke down crying, but not from sadness. This time her tears came from relief, as she no longer felt alone with her burdens anymore. The redhead felt truly loved, as she was being hugged by her whole team, who wanted to show how much their youngest member meant for them.

* * *

Meanwhile, the members of team RWBY were being watched by two pairs of eyes, as Ozpin and Glynda were hiding behind a corner. The two professors had been interested in seeing how team RWBY was doing after everything that happened and were quite pleased with what they had seen.

"I suppose we don't need to worry about those four anymore," Glynda said while looking at the scene of a crying Ruby being hugged by her team.

"I think that is safe to assume," Ozpin replied as he took a sip from his cup of coffee.

"...You knew something like this would happen, didn't you?" the blonde woman asked suddenly. "This is why you let Ms. Schnee switch to being the team leader."

"I might have had a bit of an expectation, but things went far better than I had imagined," the headmaster answered. "For example, I had no idea that Ms. Schnee would go and organize an entire event in order to tell the students about the burdens of leadership. Not that I was ever against it, of course. I think it was for the best to let all the students know just what being a team leader is really about."

"So all is well that ends well then?"

"Indeed. While I can't speak for all of our teams, I think it's certain that at the very least team RWBY is going to be better from this whole experience."

Ozpin's words were indeed true. While it may have been a rough road, the members of team RWBY had become much closer from all of this. The four girls were now much stronger as a team and friends.

* * *

**Author's notes: I kind of wanted to give this story a happy ending, where some of the bigger issues in Beacon get solved. My first thought was simply to have Yang and Blake overhear the conversation between Ruby and Weiss in the last chapter, but that felt a bit too cheap to me. Not to mention, I wanted things to get better for everyone in Beacon, like Jaune. That gave me the idea of Weiss holding an event, where she would talk about some of the burdens team leaders have to face. The scene with Ozpin and Glynda was something I decided to add as I was finishing this up. I feel like it gave a nice touch on things.**

**Anyways, this story is now completed and I'll be moving on to some other stuff. Thank you all for the support you gave this story.**

**Until next time.**

**RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.**


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